Hong Kong has issued a warning to the public regarding a suspicious crypto scheme disguising itself as a regulated exchange.
In a statement released Friday, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) warned of a platform named “Kucoin” which fraudulently claims to be licensed by HKMA’s. The platform went as far as to produce fake documents bearing HKMA’s approval.
This warning alleges that unregulated exchanges have been freezing user accounts and then demanding money out of the victims, pretending it is processing fees in order to unfreeze them. However, the HKMA clarified that it has no affiliation with it.
It’s unclear if the HKMA’s warning specifically refers to KuCoin itself as the exchange recently cancelled its application for Virtual Asset Trading Platform License in Hong Kong. As of this report, KuCoin has not publicly addressed the matter.
“The HKMA wishes to clarify that it has no connection with the above fraudulent website and platform, and reiterate that we will not contact individual members of the public regarding personal financial matters,” the notice states, urging victims not to comply with any ransom requests.
This warning comes after the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the founders of the legitimate KuCoin crypto exchange for alleged Bank Secrecy Act violations.
The HKMA reiterated its policy of never directly contacting members of the public about personal financial matters as part of its anti-fraud protocol.
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