ChainCatcher news, according to the Wen Wei Po report, the Hong Kong police announced data on online investment fraud cases for the first 9 months of 2024. A total of 3,468 cases were reported, involving approximately HKD 2.2 billion, with 35% related to virtual assets. Although this is a decrease compared to the same period last year, the number of cases in October surged by 24% month-on-month, indicating a rebound trend.The largest single loss came from a virtual asset scam, where a female executive of a cryptocurrency company was defrauded of HKD 78.47 million. The police remind that nearly 60% of victims first contacted the scammers through instant messaging software, and 40% of the victims are aged between 40 and 59.From January to October 2023, investment fraud cases reached 5,017, involving approximately HKD 4.93 billion. In September this year, there were 312 cases with an amount of HKD 187 million; in October, it increased to 380 cases, involving HKD 248 million, showing an upward trend. The police urge investors to remain vigilant and beware of virtual asset investment traps.

ChainCatcher news, on October 25, the Ministry of Public Security held a special press conference in Beijing to report on the effectiveness of the measures taken by the national public security organs to combat and rectify ethnic asset unfreezing fraud crimes.Zhou Qiancheng, head of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Ningbo Public Security Bureau in Zhejiang Province, introduced that at the beginning of this year, Ningbo public security organs discovered that local residents were participating in the "China International Plum Blossom Association" ethnic asset unfreezing fraud project. Upon investigation, it was found that the suspects established an illegal organization called "China International Plum Blossom Association" as bait with high pension returns, recruiting participants from all over the country, and collecting fees under the names of "membership fees," "venue fees," "certificate fees," and "personal income tax," using virtual currency to launder money and illegally profit. The involved funds have been confirmed to exceed 58 million yuan.Currently, the case is still under further investigation.

ChainCatcher news, the Public Security Bureau of Wenxian County, Luliang City, Shanxi Province successfully cracked a new type of fraud case involving virtual currency. According to the Ping An Luliang public account, this "investment and financial management + on-site cash exchange for U" scam involves an amount as high as 200,000 yuan.In the case, the suspects established a trust relationship with the victims through the "pig butchering" technique, and then arranged for "runners" to come to the victims' locations under the pretext of helping to find USDT exchange merchants for "on-site exchange." After obtaining the cash, the suspects immediately went offline. The anti-fraud center of the Wenxian County Public Security Bureau quickly launched an investigation after receiving the report. By analyzing the funds involved and collecting evidence, the police identified the suspect Chen from Jiaozuo City, Henan Province. On October 22, the investigating officers successfully arrested Chen in Jiaozuo City.Upon investigation, it was found that Chen drove from Jiaozuo, Henan to Wenxian County, met with the victim Chang, and successfully obtained 200,000 yuan in cash, which was then handed over to his superior. Currently, Chen has been subjected to criminal coercive measures in accordance with the law, and the case is under further investigation.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the U.S. Department of the Treasury stated on October 17 that it has recovered $4 billion in "fraud and improper payments" in fiscal year 2024 by using artificial intelligence to sift through data. By adopting artificial intelligence, the amount of fraud recovered by the Treasury has increased nearly fourfold compared to the previous fiscal year, which recovered $652.7 million in fraudulent payments.

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, South Korean financial regulators have issued a stern warning, stating that a life sentence will be imposed for cryptocurrency fraud cases that profit over $4 million (approximately 5 billion won). This warning was issued following the enactment of the South Korean "Virtual Asset User Protection Act" in July 2024, which aims to prevent cryptocurrency crimes, partly inspired by the events involving Terra/Luna founder Do Kwon and the collapse of the FTX exchange.In addition, the new law stipulates other penalties, including fines of 3 to 5 times the illegal profits, as well as a maximum of one year of imprisonment.

ChainCatcher message, the Lubbock police in Texas report a significant increase in Bitcoin-related scam cases, with victims suffering heavy losses. In the past few months, 20 to 30 people have reported scams involving gift cards and Bitcoin transactions.Scammers typically target the elderly, claiming that their accounts have been compromised and need verification. Victims are instructed to write checks, withdraw cash, and deposit funds into Bitcoin machines. Officer Brandon Stewart recalled a case where one victim transferred $25,000 and then $30,000.

ChainCatcher news, according to apnews, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) must provide defendants the right to a federal jury trial in fraud cases, stripping the SEC of a key enforcement tool used in certain civil fraud complaints through internal procedures. This ruling could have far-reaching implications for other regulatory agencies. The Supreme Court made this decision with a 6 to 3 vote, stating that the SEC's internal procedures violate the Constitution.The SEC generated over $5 billion in civil penalties in fiscal year 2023, but it is currently unclear how much of that came from internal procedures or federal court litigation. This case is part of a push by conservative and business interest groups to limit the power of federal regulatory agencies.

ChainCatcher news, the Hong Kong police recently stated that they have discovered a surge in the number of counterfeit bills used in cryptocurrency fraud cases. From January to April, authorities seized a total of 3,396 counterfeit notes, valued at approximately $320,000.In three major cryptocurrency-related cases, a total of 1,693 "training notes" and 347 low-quality counterfeit bills were confiscated. These training notes are primarily used to train bank staff and resemble Hong Kong $1,000 banknotes but lack anti-counterfeiting features, marked with the Chinese characters "培训钞".Fraudsters set up fake stores or arrange face-to-face transactions, offering services to exchange cryptocurrency for cash, using these counterfeit bills to deceive victims.

ChainCatcher news, according to Hong Kong 01, in recent years, there have been increasing cases of fraud involving virtual asset trading platforms, attracting social attention. The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Christopher Hui, stated that over the past three years, there have been a total of 7,148 cases of fraud involving virtual assets, with nearly 7 billion HKD involved, more than half of which were related to last year's scams. As of the 20th, in the JPEX case, the police have arrested 70 people, and no one has been prosecuted yet.Christopher Hui pointed out that since September last year, the Securities and Futures Commission has added a "List of Suspicious Virtual Asset Trading Platforms," and as of February 14 this year, there are 14 trading platforms on the list. He stated that since December last year, the Securities and Futures Commission and the Police Force have further implemented an information-sharing mechanism, exchanging complaints and intelligence regarding suspicious activities related to virtual asset trading platforms or virtual assets twice a week. As of February 2 this year, the Securities and Futures Commission and the Police Force have exchanged intelligence on over 100 cases related to virtual asset trading platforms or virtual asset-related activities.

ChainCatcher news, the CEO of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, Ashley Alder, stated that after the occurrence of fraud cases related to virtual assets, a comprehensive review of personnel and processes has been conducted, and cooperation with the police has been strengthened, with intelligence exchanges occurring twice a week. If fraud cases are suspected, the public will be informed as soon as possible.Alder mentioned that currently, 45 people are responsible for related process work, and there is also an internal coordination group. This month, a series of related promotions will be conducted, including advertisements on the subway and buses. The Securities and Futures Commission places great importance on emerging market companies listing in Hong Kong and will actively explore the market and conduct promotional work, emphasizing that it will not impose stricter regulations simply due to unfamiliarity with the market.

ChainCatcher news, the official WeChat public account of Zhejiang Public Security announced that recently, there has been a surge in fraudulent online investment and financial management cases, with many citizens in the province being defrauded of over one million yuan. Zhejiang Public Security urgently reminds the public: please be vigilant, carefully identify, keep a tight grip on your "money bag," and be wary of falling into traps set by scammers. The article lists 5 typical cases that occurred recently, among which 2 involve virtual currency:In early January 2024, a person named "Wang Yiyi" contacted Mr. B, a citizen of Ningbo, through enterprise WeChat. After chatting, Mr. B downloaded a social chat APP recommended by the other party called "MosTalk (泡泡)," and they communicated through MosTalk (泡泡). Later, Mr. B downloaded the "Litecoin" APP based on a link sent by the other party. The scammers induced him to make multiple large transfers to invest in virtual currency on this fake platform, and he only realized he had been scammed when he found he could not withdraw his funds.Mr. E, a citizen of Yiwu, usually has a habit of stock trading. In November 2023, Mr. E watched stock trading live videos on WeChat video accounts, added the other party's WeChat ID, and was added to a WeChat group. He downloaded a chat software using a QR code sent in the group, and under the guidance of the scammers, he downloaded the fake investment platform BaseHk. In January 2024, Mr. E made multiple large transfers on the platform to purchase virtual currency, and later discovered he had been defrauded.

ChainCatcher news, according to the latest report from the Web3 bug bounty platform Immunefi, the cryptocurrency industry lost over $343 million in November 2023 due to hacking and fraud cases, setting a record for the highest monthly loss this year. Compared to the approximately $22 million loss in October, the loss amount in November increased by more than 15 times.According to Immunefi statistics, so far this year, cryptocurrency hacking and rug pull incidents have resulted in cumulative losses of over $1.75 billion, involving 296 incidents.

ChainCatcher news, the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security have launched the third batch of 5 major cross-border telecom network fraud cases for joint supervision and handling. Among them, the '9.06' telecom network fraud case in Putian, Fujian has been confirmed to involve an amount of over 30 million yuan, with more than 150 members in the gang. This criminal group has a clear hierarchical structure and defined roles, implementing fraud through online dating and inducing investment in virtual currencies. The public security organs have arrested more than 30 individuals.

ChainCatcher news, according to Phoenix Network, recently, the police in Jining, Shandong Province, cracked a case involving cross-border gambling and the dissemination of obscene materials, which was listed as a target case by the Ministry of Public Security during the "Clean Internet 2023" special operation. They dismantled 6 involved gangs, arrested 64 criminal suspects, and seized a batch of mobile phones and computers used in the crimes. Investigations revealed that the involved online platform accepted illegal personnel deposits totaling 1.581 billion yuan, with the platform profiting 516 million yuan. It is reported that this criminal gang typically used foreign social networking software for communication and conducted financial settlements through virtual currencies and other means.

ChainCatcher news, the Dongyang People's Court issued a notice on the return of funds in the fraud case involving Zhou Sheng, He Yan, and others. The notice states that based on the effective criminal judgment documents such as Zhe 0783 Criminal First 560 and the information verification registration, the first round of fund return work for the involved funds that have been collected is being carried out. The specific matters are announced as follows: the registration for this fund return work will start from the date of the announcement and will last for 1 month. The recipients of the fund return are investors who have invested in the fraudulent digital currency platforms SIE (later renamed BTUE), CFEX, LKF, GDbit, etc., and have overall losses. The amount of this return is calculated based on the amount of loss and the funds that have been collected, determining a uniform refund ratio.It is reported that this fund return will be conducted through the release on WeChat official accounts, links, and scanning QR codes to enter the APP for information registration, with backend review and confirmation. After passing the review, the payment will be assisted by the Dongyang branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.In August 2019, the Dongyang Public Security Bureau launched an investigation into digital currency fraud platforms such as SIE, CFEX, LKF, and GDBIT, and key members of this fraud group were successively captured and brought to justice. This fraud group fabricated activities related to blockchain technology development, developing digital currency trading platforms through a technical team, forming a complete fraud industrial chain.In September 2021, according to the Zhejiang Procuratorate, all 171 defendants involved in this digital currency fraud series case, with an amount involved reaching 380 million yuan, were tried and sentenced.

ChainCatcher news, according to the South China Morning Post, a report from the Hong Kong police shows that in 2022, Hong Kong recorded a total of 2,336 cases of cryptocurrency-related fraud, an increase of 67% from 1,397 cases in 2021. The funds involved in these cases amounted to approximately HKD 1.7 billion (about USD 216.6 million), which is an increase of 106% from the previous year. (Source link)