The rising popularity of Bitcoin also comes with an increase in criminal cases; hence, it is imperative to be more careful than ever. Two suspects have been arrested for allegedly swindling unsuspecting victims of their money in a fake Bitcoin transaction in Hong Kong. Last week, a local Chinese newspaper reported that the suspected fraudsters misled two victims into a sham Bitcoin transaction. The scammers who masqueraded as Bitcoin sellers successfully extorted HK$3.85 million, an equivalent of $495,650 from the two unsuspecting victims.
How the Fake Bitcoin Sellers deceived the unsuspecting buyers
The two innocent men, who are employees of an exchange firm, visited Tin Hau’s shop to buy Bitcoin with their cash. But an intermediary whose name was withheld linked the two men to the fraudulent Bitcoin sellers. Having released the money to the scammers, one of them took the cash from the shop, deceiving those around that he wanted to do some documentation about the deal.
According to a police officer who narrated the incident, one of the suspects reportedly fled after counting the money. But when he failed to return after several hours, the victims started suspecting that the deal was going wrong. When the buyers started looking for the fleeing seller, the other attempted to escape, which led the victims to quickly report the matter to the police.
The remaining suspect who attempted to escape was apprehended and later arrested by the police. While he is in detention being interrogated, his accomplice, who fled with the cash, is still large. An online crypto medium published an incident that involved an armed robbery gang who defrauded a victim of $450,000 in Hong Kong at gunpoint. Earlier, swindlers stole HK$3 million from a man after deceiving him to trade his Bitcoin.
Reasons for the rising cases of fraudulent Bitcoin transactions
While Bitcoin keeps becoming popular and hitting new highs, fraudulent elements are coming up with new tricks to defraud innocent victims. Hong Kong has witnessed numerous cases of fraudulent Bitcoin transactions lately. Bitcoin transactions are encrypted and registered on a ledger to which anybody can have access. This can make it easy for wallet users to impede fraudulent practices, theft, and attacks prevalent in payment platforms, such as credit card usage and money transfer via the internet.
Bitcoin is more susceptible to fraudulent activities than many other payment systems because of the following reasons: The decentralized system: No centralized person or authority controls Bitcoin. If someone commits fraud, it isn’t easy to get the money refunded because of the decentralized system. Anonymity: It Is easy for anybody to register with Bitcoin, open a wallet and start making money with Bitcoin without any verification.
This explains why Bitcoin is prone to money laundering, terrorism funding, and other illegal transactions. Irreversibility: After performing a Bitcoin transaction, you can neither modify nor reverse it. You can’t change the nature of the transaction. Hence, any defrauded person may not be refunded. The above are some of the reasons that have endeared Bitcoins to fraudulent people.
