Hong Kong police have busted a deepfake romance scam that defrauded a man of $46 million through fake cryptocurrency investments.
According to local reports, Hong Kong law enforcement agencies have cracked down on a multinational crypto-romance scam run by a fraud syndicate using advanced deepfake technology, targeting victims in Hong Kong, Singapore, mainland China and other regions. It was cracked down.
Police have identified 27 people, including university graduates and Soon Eon Triad members, who helped run the scheme and set up a fake trading platform to trick victims into investing in fake crypto investments. was arrested.
Romance scams, also known as pig butchering scams, are where a scammer poses as a romantic partner in order to gain someone’s trust. Eventually, they convince their victims to invest in fake crypto investments that promise huge returns and disappear with the money.
The inner workings of a scam
The syndicate used AI-generated photos of attractive women to establish romantic relationships with unsuspecting men online. The victims were then persuaded to invest in what they believed to be a legitimate cryptocurrency platform, but it was later discovered that they were unable to withdraw their funds.
Senior Superintendent Fan Chi-king, who heads the New Territories Southern Crime Squad, said the syndicate’s victims were fooled even during video calls, using deepfake technology to replace the scammers’ looks and voices with those of attractive women. said.
Victims were then persuaded to invest in cryptocurrencies through fake trading platforms and were also shown fake transaction records that claimed to have earned profits on their investments.
“They also discussed future plans with their victims, creating a false sense of well-being and encouraging them to continue investing,” Huang added.
Police said the fraudsters worked in various roles, including fraud, technical support and accounting. Recruits, often college graduates, were hired to manage English- or Mandarin-speaking victims and given training manuals outlining how to build trusting relationships with victims, especially in the investment field.
The report said each fraudster involved in the syndicate could earn tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars a month, with some exceeding HK$100,000. Police are continuing to investigate and have not ruled out further arrests.
The scammers have been operating since October 2023 and have successfully defrauded victims of HK$360 million (approximately $46 million).
Romance scams are on the rise
Cryptocurrency scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and romance scams are just one of their tactics. The rise of AI has further increased the challenge, helping fraudsters carry out more convincing plans.
Agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been warning for years about the rise in romance scams, especially those related to cryptocurrencies.
Romance scams caused more than $75 billion in losses from January 2020 to February 2024, with many scammers based in Southeast Asia, according to a study led by University of Texas finance professor John Griffin. It is clear that it is active. In a recent case, an American citizen filed a lawsuit alleging he lost $2.1 million in Bitcoin in one of the pig slaughter scams run by criminal organizations in the region.
Meanwhile, in April, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office’s cryptocurrency division busted a similar conspiracy targeting victims across the United States.
