Retiree Loses Rp14.2 Billion Due to Crypto Disguised as Fraud

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - A 66-year-old retiree in Hong Kong has suffered a major loss after becoming a victim of a cryptocurrency investment scam. The total loss amounts to HKD 6.6 million, equivalent to around Rp14.2 billion (assuming an exchange rate of Rp2,165/HKD).

According to Cryptonews, the Hong Kong police’s CyberDefender unit revealed that on 20 March 2026, the victim was first contacted by someone via WhatsApp in September 2025, who claimed to be a “virtual currency investment expert”.

The perpetrator offered stable returns if the victim followed their instructions. Tempted, the victim transferred around US$180,000 and deposited cryptocurrency assets into a wallet controlled by the perpetrator. However, after the funds were sent, the perpetrator immediately disappeared.

It did not stop there; the victim, not yet accepting the loss, then sought help online. They encountered another individual claiming to be a “crypto expert” who promised to help recover the lost funds.

Instead of retrieving their money, the victim was asked to pay a “security deposit” of US$75,000. After the funds were sent, the second perpetrator also vanished without a trace.

This case illustrates how scammers can recycle the same victim through successive schemes that begin with offers of “guaranteed profits” and escalate to promises of recovering stolen funds.

“Life has no second chances; but scams can have a third,” wrote the CyberDefender team in a post quoted on Monday (23/3/2026).

The CyberDefender team warns that genuine professionals do not rely on random approaches and that phrases like “guaranteed returns” and “secret information” are classic red flags.