Hong Kong: 25 crypto romance scams, HK$70M lost in a week

Hong Kong law enforcement received 25 reports of romance-related cryptocurrency investment scams in the week ending July 30, according to Oriental Daily. The combined losses approached HK$70 million, or roughly US$9 million.

One case involved a woman in her 50s who worked in insurance. She was introduced to a man claiming to be in the automobile business, according to the report. Their WhatsApp conversations turned romantic. The man said he was an experienced investor and convinced her to use a crypto trading app. He then introduced a fake platform manager to handle her wallet. Over six months she handed over HK$4 million in cash and transferred another HK$22 million to accounts the scammers provided. Her account showed profits of more than 800%. When she tried to withdraw, the request was denied. Her total loss exceeded HK$26 million.

The pattern is familiar. In May 2026, the South China Morning Post reported a Hong Kong woman losing more than HK$1 million after a manipulated Facebook ad directed her to an AI-powered investment site promoted on WhatsApp. That week authorities received over 70 investment scam complaints with losses above HK$50 million.

Broader data show the scale of the problem. TRM Labs estimated illicit crypto flows reached US$158 billion in 2025, an all-time high and up nearly 145% from 2024, though illicit activity fell slightly as a share of overall volume, from 1.3% to 1.2%. The Anti-Deception Coordination Centre (ADCC) said deception accounted for 48.5% of all reported crime in Hong Kong in 2025. While total scam cases fell 2.9% to 43,212, online investment fraud rose 30.7% to 5,135 cases. Losses jumped 58.4% to HK$3.58 billion. Investment scams represented only 11.9% of deception cases but generated 44.1% of all financial losses. Average losses per case rose from roughly HK$580,000 to HK$700,000.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime reported that online scams in 2025 cost victims from East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand between US$88.3 billion and US$114.1 billion, three times the 2023 figure. Cambodia and Myanmar were among the main areas for criminal groups running romance and crypto schemes from fortified compounds, often staffed by trafficked workers, the report said. The International Organization for Migration estimates at least 300,000 people are involved in these fraud operations in Southeast Asia as a result of false job advertising.

Hong Kong police formed a Virtual Asset Intelligence Taskforce in October 2025 to improve collaboration with Customs and financial authorities and strengthen anti-money-laundering efforts involving cryptocurrencies. The ADCC has also focused on awareness campaigns targeting investment fraud in 2026.

Authorities appear more concerned with the economic consequences of these cases than with their sheer numbers. Shopping and employment scams are more common, but the damage from cryptocurrency investment scams is far larger. Recovery of lost funds drops sharply once the money is converted to crypto and moved between wallets or foreign exchanges, which underscores the need for prevention, rapid reporting, and cross-border cooperation, according to the ADCC.

Although the victims are based in Hong Kong, the perpetrators are seldom local. The UN report traced the syndicates to Southeast Asia. The cases show that modern investment fraud combines social media, chat platforms, and traditional banking systems into cross-border networks. As oversight of licensed crypto firms tightens, criminals exploit the weak point: human trust in blockchain technology.

The ADCC said average losses per investment scam case rose to HK$700,000 in 2025, from HK$580,000 the year before.