Losses from crypto scams in Hong Kong amounted to 1.7 billion Hong Kong dollars ($216.6 million) last year, surging 106% from a year before, according to the local police.
The number of crypto-related scams reported in Hong Kong in 2022 equaled 2,336 cases, surging 67% from 1,397 cases recorded by police in 2021, the South China Morning Post reported.
Hong Kong scams involving crypto accounted for more than 50% of the total 3.2 billion HKD ($407 million) stolen from city residents in technology crimes, according to the official data from the Hong Kong police CyberDefender website. In the previous four years, online scammers bagged a similar amount of money or about 3 billion HKD per year.
The entire amount of technology crimes in 2022 resulted in nearly 23,000 reported cases.
(By HELEN PARTZ)
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