HK securities watchdog alerts public of Aramex and DIFX for suspected frauds

Hong Kong’s securities watchdog and the police have flagged two virtual asset trading platforms as suspicious after investors were tricked by social media chat groups into depositing money that they could not withdraw. 

According to a statement issued by The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) last Thursday (18 January), Aramex and DIFX enticed victims to join social media chat groups on the pretence of offering free investment advice, and referred victims interested in investing in cryptocurrencies to websites operated by them.  

These victims were subsequently asked to deposit funds into designated bank accounts for investment purposes, but they have not been able to withdraw their funds since.

Additionally, the SFC found that the two trading platforms had adopted names similar to legitimate listed companies while there was no indication that they are linked. 

“The public should be aware that fraudulent, unlicensed platforms will often adopt names similar to those of legitimate entities to confuse investors,” the SFC said, adding that the public should be cautious about “too-good-to-be-true” investment opportunities and advice on social media platforms and instant messaging apps. 

The SFC has posted Aramex and DIFX and their respective websites on the Suspicious Virtual Asset Trading Platforms Alert List, while their identifiable websites, including eight operated under Aramex and six under DIFX, have been blocked by the police. 

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to the police for more information on the incident. 

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There have been multiple series of scams involving virtual asset trading platforms in Hong Kong. Back in November 2023, local virtual asset exchange platform Hounax was flagged as suspicious after over 130 people claimed they were scammed out of HK$100m. Hounax was found to have claimed to be a cryptocurrency trading platform in collaboration with a financial institution and a venture capital firm. 

Apart from that, another cryptocurrency exchange JPEX was found to be unlicenced suspected fraud in September 2023 after the SFC revealed that no entity in the JPEX group had been licenced or applied to the SFC for a licence to operate a virtual asset trading platform. 

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