Hong Kong Police Warn of $450K Binance Users Phishing Scam
Hong Kong Police Issue Warning as Binance Users Fall Victim to Phishing Scams, Losing $450K.
Hong Kong police issued a warning about the fraud in an Oct. 9 Facebook post titled “CyberDefender.”
“Recently, scammers pretending to be the Binance sent text messages suggesting that consumers had to tap the link provided in the text to confirm their personal information before a certain date, otherwise their account will be terminated.”
The Binance has recently made headlines for a variety of reasons, including decreased trade volumes, the delisting of many cryptocurrencies, and security breaches. These issues have shaken even the most powerful leaders.
First, there were regulatory and DOJ clashes, and now the continual hacking effort conjures up images of Binance Fallout. It also has an impact on the native token BNB, which has a 2.98% decrease over the previous seven days. The current price of BNB is $208.76.
Hack Exacerbated the Situation
Binance users in Hong Kong have recently been the victims of various phishing operations, resulting in losses totaling more than $450,000. The Hong Kong police have issued a warning, advising users to be cautious.
Fraudsters impersonating Binance sent SMS messages to users, stating they needed to click a link to authenticate their identity. After users clicked the link and entered their information, hackers gained access to their Binance accounts and stole all of the assets in their wallets.
The aftermath of the incident has yet to settle; in the previous two weeks, the phishing scam has touched 11 Hong Kong-based Binance clients, resulting in a total loss of over $450,000.
On their official website’s “fraud prevention” section, Hong Kong police have encouraged visitors to report questionable texts. They have also released a list of verified virtual asset trading platforms, underlining the need to utilize approved cryptocurrency exchanges for greater security.
Looking for “Safe” Choices
Notably, in Hong Kong, only two cryptocurrency exchanges, HashKey and OSL, are fully approved for retail investing purposes. Scams and fraudulent activities have increased in the region, notably the recent JPEX crypto exchange fiasco, which resulted in huge investor losses.
To prevent possible fraud and protect investors, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) proposes the release of a list of both authorized and “questionable” crypto platforms.
JPEX, which was founded in 2021, targeted retail investors with large advertising efforts at major business and transportation centers. The exchange purported to be a regulated cryptocurrency exchange and attracted investors with large profits of up to 20%.
However, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission charged the platform for functioning without a license and participating in “suspicious” operations on September 13.
During the investigation, the Hong Kong and Macau police departments received 2,417 petitions involving claimed losses over HK$1.5 billion.
Meanwhile, analysts and industry experts are concerned that the aftermath of the JPEX catastrophe would pose substantial hurdles for virtual asset businesses and may stymie the government’s efforts to grow the sector.
“At a moment when people still aren’t entirely sure what Web3 is, the JPEX scenario has given an adverse view for people in Hong Kong on digital assets and the larger Web3 sector,”
said Cyrus Ip, a crypto venture investor and the chief business officer of artificial intelligence start-up DreamWld Technology.
Closing Thoughts
Binance is also changing the way individuals may trade cryptocurrency. Some trading pairs are halted, including XRP/BUSD, FTM/BUSD, MANA/BUSD, and OP/BUSD. This is part of their strategy to discontinue support for the BUSD stablecoin by February 2024. People will be unable to contribute cryptocurrencies to these pairings after October 13, and any current funds will be repaid on October 17.
