In a recent surge of fraudulent activities, scammers impersonating Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by market capitalization, have been deceiving Hong Kong residents through phishing texts. As reported by Hong Kong Police on Monday, these scams have affected 11 individuals in the past two weeks, leading to total losses of approximately 3.5 million yuan (HK$3.5 million).
The fraudsters gain unauthorized access to victims' Binance accounts and transfer digital assets without their consent. The scam aligns with a troubling increase in crypto industry losses, which reached $889.3 million in Q3 2023 due to similar fraudulent activities such as rug pulls and funds lost to hacks.
The Hong Kong police have issued recommendations for users to mitigate the risk of falling victim to such scams. These include understanding platform security risks, investing only in licensed trading platforms in Hong Kong, storing large virtual assets in offline wallets, and ensuring thorough authenticity verification of any suspicious messages received.
This surge of fraudulent activities has drawn attention from regulatory bodies. US SEC chair, Gary Gensler, has voiced concerns about the prevalence of crypto fraud and the lack of regulatory compliance within the industry. He stressed the need for tighter security measures and adherence to regulations to protect users from such scams.
As per the reports, these fraudulent activities are not confined to unlicensed platforms but also involve the impersonation of reputable exchanges like Binance. This highlights the importance of user vigilance and the adoption of stringent security measures, even when dealing with well-known platforms in the crypto industry.
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