The victims were persuaded to convert their cryptocurrency for OEN on now-defunct marketplaces.
“Attractive ladies” approached all of the victims on dating or message services.
Over 200 bitcoin traders from around 20 countries have lost an estimated $70 million in OEN-related frauds. The swindle was carried out by con artists posing as attractive Chinese women, according to The Standard. They found their targets on dating sites and used WhatsApp text and voice communications to persuade them to invest in cryptocurrency. Following the purchase of the cryptocurrency, purchasers were led to cryptocurrency exchanges where they could trade their cryptocurrency for OEN. Victims mentioned the non-functional exchanges Bitfex.pro and Bitfex.vip, which are thought to be linked to Hong Kong servers.
When the victims attempted to withdraw their profits, they were instead urged to purchase even more cryptocurrency, according to the victims. Needless to say, some were cheated out of tens of thousands of dollars, with one losing as much as $100,900. The “ladies” then cut their ties.
Tracing cross-border scams is a difficult task.
Police in Hong Kong are unable to corroborate that the websites were hosted on Hong Kong servers, nor can they determine whether the fraudsters were based in Hong Kong. They said earlier this month that after a month of study, they could have to call it a day.
“I regret to notify you that the case has no connection to Hong Kong because the IP addresses of websites might change at any time,” police stated.
This is just one more illustration of how tough it is for law enforcement to track down cybercrime culprits. According to an Investopedia research from June, bitcoin scams alone result in a daily loss of nearly $9 million.
About 15 victims of the scam reported their trauma to Hong Kong police in February. In June, the police initiated an inquiry but were unable to uncover any concrete clues.
Testimonies from swindle victims
In January, one of the victims, Christian, a German engineer, formed a Telegram group for other scam victims to discuss their stories.
In terms of how he got involved, he claims that “a Chinese woman named Li” contacted him using the Ablo messaging app in December. “Li” messaged him every day for the next two months, telling him how much money she was making with OEN. On the Bitfex.vip market, Christain traded Bitcoin for OEN and realized that his profit had doubled, so he continued to invest. He was unable to withdraw his funds when he attempted to do so. He lost roughly $25,000 in the process.
Others were solicited by a beautiful woman, bought crypto, and then exchanged it for OEN before finding they couldn’t withdraw their earnings. Others include Raj, a Swiss banker who lost around $26,500 to “a woman named Bella” he met on Tinder in October 2020, and Vincent, a UK marine engineer who lost about GBP2,500 ($3,400) to “Chen” on Tinder in October 2020.
A large amount of the crypto they traded with OEN coins ended up in Binance e-wallets, according to the majority of the victims.
“After we followed the currencies’ transfers, we found crypto coins worth at least US$70 million in the e-wallets, but Binance did nothing to intervene,” Vincent stated.
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