Binance Users in Hong Kong Lose Over $450K in Phishing Scam – Coinpedia Fintech News

Binance is in the news for various reasons, including declining trade volumes, delisting multiple cryptocurrencies, and security breaches. Clearly, these challenges have managed to shake even the top-line of leaders.

First, the regulatory and DOJ faceoffs, and now the constant hacking attempt gives spine-chilling thoughts of Binance Fallout. It also affects the native token BNB, facing a downtrend of –2.98 % from the last seven days. Currently, the price of BNB (BNB) is $208.76. 

The Hack Didn’t Help Matters

Recently, Binance users in Hong Kong have fallen victim to multiple phishing attacks, resulting in losses totaling over $450,000. The Hong Kong police have warned about this, urging users to exercise caution. The scam involved fraudsters posing as Binance and sending text messages to users, claiming they needed to click a link to verify their identity. Once users clicked the link and provided their details, hackers accessed their Binance accounts and stole all the assets within their wallets. 

The dust has still not settled; the phishing scheme has affected 11 Hong Kong-based Binance customers in the last two weeks, resulting in combined losses of over $450,000. Hong Kong police have encouraged users to report suspicious messages on their official website’s “fraud prevention” section. They have also provided a list of verified virtual asset trading platforms, emphasizing the importance of using licensed crypto exchanges for better protection.

Seeking Out the “Safe” Options

Notably, only two cryptocurrency exchanges, HashKey and OSL, are fully licensed for retail investment purposes in Hong Kong. The region has been facing a surge in scams and fraudulent activities, including the recent JPEX crypto exchange scandal, which led to significant investor losses.

In response, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) plans to publish a list of both licensed and “suspicious” crypto platforms to combat potential fraud and protect investors.

Changes to Binance’s Pools

Binance is also making some changes to how it lets people trade cryptocurrencies. It’s stopping some trading pairs, like XRP/BUSD, FTM/BUSD, MANA/BUSD, and OP/BUSD. This is part of their plan to stop supporting the BUSD stablecoin by February 2024. After October 13, people won’t be able to add their cryptocurrencies to these pairs, and any existing money will be returned on October 17.

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