Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and local law enforcement agencies have jointly issued a public warning against an entity posing as crypto exchange MEXC Global.
The scammers reportedly pose as a legitimate virtual asset trading platform (VATP) and lure unsuspecting victims into participating in what appears to be a crypto investment scam.
The list of blocked web domains in the alert shows that the scammers are using links with addresses starting with “mexc” and ending with random alphabets that resemble phishing links.
MEXC Global’s actual website does not appear in the list at the time of writing.
Fraud alert
The SFC has placed MEXC and its associated websites on the warning list of suspected virtual asset trading platforms as of February 9, following information shared between the SFC and police under a joint working group aimed at monitoring and investigating illegal activities in the space for virtual assets. .
Victims were allegedly drawn to social media or instant messaging chat groups under the guise of receiving free investment advice, only to be directed to MEXC-operated websites for crypto purchases. These individuals were then prompted to deposit money into specific bank accounts for investment purposes, only to encounter problems when they later tried to withdraw their money.
Hong Kong police have taken steps to block access to MEXC websites. However, there is an ongoing concern that MEXC will continue to create new websites with similar domain names to continue their fraudulent scheme. The public is urged to exercise caution and remain vigilant against such deceptive practices.
The SFC’s repeated warnings highlight the importance of due diligence and the need for investors to be wary of investment opportunities that are too good to be true, especially if promoted through social media platforms and instant messaging apps.
The regulatory body said fraudulent unlicensed platforms often adopt names similar to legitimate entities to deceive investors. The public is advised to verify the legitimacy of virtual asset trading platforms before undertaking any investment activity to protect themselves from possible fraud.
Regular performance
The warning against MEXC comes amid a broader regulatory crackdown on unlicensed crypto operations in Hong Kong, following the introduction of a regulatory framework for licensing crypto exchanges last year.
The SFC recently reminded entities engaged in crypto exchange services to apply for licenses by February 29 or cease operations by May 31. So far, Hong Kong has licensed two platforms under the new framework: HashKey and OSL.
In addition, the Hong Kong authorities have launched a public consultation on legislative proposals aimed at implementing a comprehensive licensing system for providers of over-the-counter virtual asset trading services.
This initiative aims to impose licensing requirements on entities offering spot trading services for virtual assets and proposes to extend the supervision of the Commissioner of Customs and Excise (CCE) to all over-the-counter virtual asset services. This includes monitoring licensees’ compliance with anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing standards.