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According to the South China Morning Post, the victim, aged 39, was trying to sell USDT worth HK$4 million and arranged to carry out the transaction physically with a supposed buyer earlier in November. The crypto trader was lured into an industrial building and was attacked by a group of men.
According to an anonymous source, the victim made some money through crypto trading and occasionally made a lavish display of his earnings. This act led the criminals to think that the victim was wealthy, and subsequently targeted the man. However, the source stated that the trader was not an affluent individual nor was he famous.
Following the severe beating, the victim was first moved to an unknown location, before he was later transported to a village house in Tai Po. The captors also forced the trader to give access to his cryptocurrency and bank accounts, with the crypto holdings reportedly worth over HK$20million ($2.56 million).
The victim’s family later alerted local authorities about his disappearance. During investigation, the officers succeeded in locating the building where the victim was held, and arrested a total of seven suspects. According to the source, the criminals “demanded an HK$8 million ransom. It was raised to HK$30 million after they found out the victim had a lot of Tether tokens in his account.”
Also, the victim escaped and was rescued by the police, and is said to be receiving treatment at the hospital. Meanwhile, it is not yet certain if the trader suffered any losses, as authorities say that the victim is unable to log in to his accounts. The police are currently searching for eight more suspects believed to be connected to the kidnap case.
Commenting on the latest incident, the acting Senior Superintendent Alan Chung of the Kowloon West regional crime unit, said that individuals should carry out cryptocurrency transactions on legitimate exchange platforms.
There seems to be an increase in crypto-related crimes in Hong Kong. In August, the city's police said that cryptocurrency scams between January and July 2021 totalled $27 million, which was an astronomical rise compared to $15 million recorded throughout 2020.
Back in January, a four-man gang stole HK3.5 million (~$450,000) from a female cryptocurrency trader at knife point. Similar to the current incident, the woman was lured to an office to receive cash for the USDT sold. Although the victim was paid, the men later stole the money.
Later in March, two con artists also in Hong Kong posed as bitcoin sellers and managed to steal HK$3.85 million($494,000) from two sellers.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong regulators are planning to restrict cryptocurrency trading to professional investors holding a minimum of HK$8 million ($1 million).