Hong Kong police have cracked a virtual currency "gold grain money laundering" fraud case, involving approximately 7 million Hong Kong dollars

According to the Hong Kong Wen Wei Po, the Hong Kong police have disclosed the resolution of a cross-border phone scam case, where a criminal group impersonated mainland officials, specifically targeting mainland students studying in the UK and Australia.

The scammers falsely claimed that the victims were involved in criminal cases such as money laundering and demanded their "cooperation in the investigation." They instructed the victims to travel to Hong Kong to purchase gold grains in multiple transactions at jewelry stores as "collateral," with each transaction not exceeding HKD 120,000 to evade the registration system of gold shops. The group members then collected and transferred the stolen goods. The gold grains were subsequently melted down into gold bars or exchanged for cash and virtual currency. The police have currently received a total of 7 related cases, involving approximately HKD 7 million, with the highest single case loss reaching HKD 1.6 million.