Hong Kong police have dismantled a deepfake romance scam that defrauded individuals of approximately $46 million through fraudulent cryptocurrency investments.

Law enforcement targeted a multinational cryptocurrency romance scam affecting victims in Hong Kong, Singapore, mainland China, and other regions according to a report by local news outlet DotDotNews. The scheme was operated by a fraud syndicate that used deepfakes to mislead their victims.

Authorities arrested 27 individuals, including university graduates and suspected members of the Sun Yee On triad. These individuals allegedly assisted in running the operation by setting up fake trading platforms that deceived victims into investing in counterfeit cryptocurrency ventures.

Romance scams, also known as pig butchering scams, involve perpetrators posing as romantic interests to gain trust. They eventually persuade their targets to invest in fraudulent cryptocurrency opportunities promising high returns, then disappear with the funds. Late February reports show that the value of crypto transactions linked to this kind of scam is 85 times higher than it was in 2020, with revenue doubling from 2022 to 2023.

The Hong Kong fraudsters used AI-generated images of women to initiate online romantic relationships with unsuspecting men. Victims were convinced to invest in what they believed were legitimate cryptocurrency platforms but later found they could not withdraw their funds.

Senior Superintendent Fang Chi-kin, head of the New Territories South regional crime unit, stated that victims were deceived even during video calls. Deepfake technology altered the scammers' appearances and voices to resemble women.

Victims were further persuaded to invest in cryptocurrency via the fake trading platforms and were shown falsified transaction records indicating profits on their investments. Previous reports showed that some scam operations even had custom-developed fake investment applications. "They discussed future plans with the victims, creating a false sense of security to encourage continued investment," Fang said.

The fraudsters organized their operations into various roles, including scam operations, technical support, and accounting. Recruits, often university graduates, were hired to manage English-speaking or Mandarin-speaking victims and were provided with training manuals on building trust, particularly concerning investments.

According to the report, each participant in the syndicate could earn tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars per month, with some earning over 100,000 Hong Kong dollars—worth nearly $12,900 as of press time. Police investigations are ongoing, and further arrests have not been ruled out. The scammers had been operating since October 2023 and managed to defraud victims of approximately HK$360 million (around $46 million).

Edited by Stacy Elliott.