A 66-year-old retiree in Hong Kong has lost approximately 6.6 million Hong Kong dollars, equivalent to around $840,000, after falling victim to three successive cryptocurrency investment scams. Each fraud was carried out by individuals who presented themselves as virtual currency specialists and made contact through WhatsApp. The case was disclosed by the Hong Kong police’s CyberDefender unit in a March 20 post on Facebook.
The first approach came in September 2025, when an unknown individual sent the retiree an unsolicited message claiming to be a virtual currency investment expert. The scammer promised consistent profits if the victim followed his guidance, and the retiree subsequently transferred $180,000 and deposited cryptocurrency into a wallet under the scammer’s control. The fraudster then disappeared, and the victim filed a police report.
Rather than accepting the loss, the retiree searched online for someone who could help recover the stolen funds. A second self-described crypto expert came forward, claiming he could retrieve the missing money but requiring a security deposit of $75,000 upfront. After the victim paid, this individual also vanished without providing any assistance.
In January, a third supposed specialist contacted the retiree via WhatsApp, offering to reclaim both previous losses. This person instructed the victim to purchase $585,000 in cryptocurrency and send it to a designated address. Once the transfer was made, the third scammer disappeared as well, bringing the total amount lost over roughly six months to approximately $840,000.
The CyberDefender team used the case to highlight a pattern in which fraudsters recycle the same victim through a sequence of schemes. The initial approach typically involves promises of guaranteed profits, while follow-up scams exploit the victim’s desire to recover what was already stolen. “Life has no take two; but scams can have take three,” the unit wrote in its warning to the public.
Authorities emphasized that legitimate financial professionals do not rely on unsolicited outreach, and that phrases such as “guaranteed returns” and “inside information” are well-established warning signs of fraud. The case illustrates how escalating trust and desperation can make individuals vulnerable to repeated exploitation by coordinated criminal networks.
The incident comes amid a broader rise in crypto-related crime globally. According to security firm Hacken, Web3 platforms recorded approximately $3.95 billion in losses in 2025, with state-linked hackers and weak key security identified as major contributing factors. Authorities in multiple countries have also flagged new waves of phishing and investment fraud, including warnings from the FBI over fake tokens on the Tron blockchain, an ongoing probe into GainBitcoin in India, and US efforts to seize $3.4 million in Tether connected to a multi-state investment scam.
Originally reported by CoinTelegraph.
