Four people, including a 14-year-old boy, were arrested yesterday at a Hong Kong self-storage facility for allegedly using counterfeit banknotes to defraud people with fake cash. With total losses of HK$11 million (US$1.4 million), the arrest represents a major turning point in an ongoing inquiry that has seen 14 individuals arrested since October last year. The fast response from Hong Kong cops also shows their dedication to catching fraudsters (penalties for manufacturing, selling, or using fake money can lead to 14 years in jail).
The investigation found that the criminal quartet had been posing as online crypto exchanges and falsely claiming to buy cryptocurrency at prices higher than market prices. The scammers would show the victims "cash" during the transaction, but the stack of cash was actually just practice notes with only the top and bottom bills being genuine HK$1,000 banknotes.
Police seized a total of 5,000 practice notes with a denomination of HK$1,000 each and arrested the "three men and a boy" when they went to a self-storage unit at a Mong Kok facility to collect the fake banknotes (they had also disguised a nearby location as a legitimate business).
“The public must be careful and only engage with trustworthy and established sites for crypto transactions,” urged Senior Inspector Mak Wai-Kwong. "The police will rigorously prosecute individuals who want to exploit the rising crypto industry through dishonest methods.”
Pictured: Senior Inspector Mak Wai-Kwong and Chief Inspector Lo Yuen-shan. Photo: Jelly Tse.