Hong Kong police arrest 3, seize bundles of fake banknotes after HK$3.1 million crypto scam
“Except for two genuine banknotes placed on the top and bottom of each bundle, the others were bogus bills, known as training notes,” the insider said.
Training notes look genuine, except for three Chinese characters which mean “practice coupon” printed on them.
They also lack security features such as watermarks and are said to be used by mainland Chinese bank staff for training and counting practice.
Police seized 1,693 “training notes” in three other cases of deception involving cryptocurrency transactions between January and April this year.
Police said the latest target met his contact – a 40-year-old man – in a Tsim Sha Tsui hotel before he was taken to the Mong Kok office to complete the deal.
There were two people who appeared to be employees – a 24-year-old man and a 42-year-old woman – in the office at the time.
The victim transferred HK$3.11 million in Tether coins to an e-wallet on instruction from the two.
“After the transfer, the merchant asked to inspect the banknotes,” the source said. “But the employees refused to allow him to check them, claiming that they had not received instructions from the store manager via phone.”
The victim was alerted by the suspicious behaviour of the pair and he contacted police at about 8pm on Friday.
Police later arrested the two men and the woman and discovered the fake notes in the office.
The three were detained on suspicion of obtaining property by deception and possession of counterfeit banknotes.
The trio were still being held for questioning on Monday afternoon.
The source said officers were also investigating whether the three were linked to similar cases.
Police appealed to the public to only carry out cryptocurrency transactions through reputable traders.
The 10,978 fake notes seized in the operation surpassed the total of 6,786 forged HK$1,000 notes found and taken out of circulation last year.
Obtaining property by deception has a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail in Hong Kong.
The production, circulation or passing of counterfeit notes is punishable by up to 14 years behind bars.