An unfortunate tragedy has occurred in Hong Kong, where a 63-year old investment manager lost his family’s inheritance of $1.5 million after being tricked by an alleged crypto investing specialist into depositing it to an illegitimate crypto trading platform.
This pervasive fraud, known as “pig butchering,” involves the gradual process of coaxing people into investing their funds in unscrupulous trading sites operated by swindlers.
The Hong Kong manager started a relationship with the female crypto trader, whom police referred to as an “online lover,” via Facebook in mid-December. In approximately two weeks, they began talking on WhatsApp.
Fueled by the woman’s promises, he created an account at a cryptocurrency trading site and invested HK$12 million of his recently inherited wealth from his father into digital currency. Following her orders, between December 30th and January 30th, he transferred that money to 16 different specified bank accounts. Once the Hong Kong manager understood he was being targeted by scammers, and that his money had been taken from him, he immediately notified authorities. The site purported to display honest and beneficial cryptocurrency exchanges but it turned out not to be as genuine or profitable as initially thought.