Hong Kong’s Police force has issued a public warning about an ongoing phishing scam targeting Binance users in the region. They shared news of the scam in a Facebook post while urging Binance users who receive suspicious verification messages to report them officially for investigation on their official website.
According to the police report, at least 11 Hong Kong-based Binance users have fallen prey to the scam in recent weeks, losing a combined $446,000 worth of cryptocurrency.
The fraud involves hackers sending text messages posing as Binance, requesting victims to “verify” their account details. The phishing texts threaten users with account deactivation if they do not click on a link to confirm their personal information by a stated deadline. However, the link actually grants the scammers full access to siphon funds from victims’ accounts once entered.
Beware of scammers. Stay #SAFU! pic.twitter.com/XZMDMKkBJf
— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) October 9, 2023
The Police stated all 11 documented victims of the phishing scam entered their details into the fake Binance site.
Meanwhile, crypto investors in Hong Kong have been hit hard by crypto scams and fraudulent activity in recent weeks. More recently, local Police arrested a social media influencer and four other individuals in connection with JPEX, a crypto exchange suspected of defrauding more than 2,300 residents in the region of over $180 million.
A few days before the police action, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued a public warning, stating that the exchange is not licensed to operate despite its claims and ads.
The Police have advised residents of the region to only use crypto retail service providers on the SFC’s list of licensed virtual asset platforms for safer trading.
Currently, only two Hong Kong-approved exchanges, HashKey and OSL, offer retail crypto services.
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