Binance users in Hong Kong hooked by US$450,000 phishing attacks

The Hong Kong police warned on Monday that 11 Hong Kong-based Binance users lost over US$446,000 (HK$3.5 million) in cryptocurrencies to phishing text messages in the last two weeks.

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Fast Facts

• Fraudulent texts from a Binance impersonator asked users to click a link and verify their identity, warning that users would otherwise lose their accounts. Victims who complied had their accounts taken over and funds drained, the Hong Kong police said on Monday.

• Hong Kong authorities urged users who receive similar suspicious messages to report them to the police’s fraud prevention page.

• At the end of September, Hong Kong’s financial watchdog warned investors to only use regulated crypto exchanges, after unlicensed trading platform JPEX allegedly caused around US$154 million in losses to over 1,600 investors, marking the largest fraud case in Hong Kong.

• Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission and the Hong Kong Police Force announced last Wednesday the establishment of a working group to monitor illegal activities related to crypto trading platforms.

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