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Hong Kong‘s financial regulator, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), has detected and blocked fake websites impersonating major local cryptocurrency exchanges. On March 4th, the SFC issued an official warning against multiple suspicious websites mimicking two licensed crypto trade platforms.
SFC Takes Noteworthy Action
Online perpetrators created several fake domain names impersonating two licensed exchanges in Hong Kong, including OSL Digital Securities and HashKey, also known as Hash Blockchain Limited. According to the announcement, the SFC blocked a total of six websites, including hskexpro, hskex, hskexs, hskexit, oslexu, and oslint. These measures followed reports of difficulties in withdrawing funds and high fees and commissions charged during withdrawal transactions.
At the request of the SFC, the Hong Kong Police Force took steps to block access to the relevant websites. The websites are listed on the SFC’s official crypto warning list, alongside other fake websites imitating other crypto exchanges like MEXC. The SFC had previously blacklisted eight fake websites impersonating MEXC on February 9th.
The SFC called on investors to verify trade platforms using public records of licensed individuals and registered institutions, and to use the list of licensed crypto asset trade platforms for relevant information, including official websites:
“Investors should also avoid sending money or conducting any transactions before verifying the identity of the counterparty.”
Security Expert’s Comments Follow Promptly
Blockchain security firm Hacken’s security expert Bartosz Barwikowski stated that determining whether a website is original or fake may not always be straightforward. He noted that it can be particularly challenging for a user accessing a website for the first time:
“Of course, you can always check if the URL is correct from the SFC website, but less than 1% of people do that.”
Since search engine results can be easily manipulated by scammers, he advised users to rely on trusted third parties instead of sticking to search engines or social media channels, including Reddit. Barwikowski highlighted two recommendations to help users stay away from fake websites:
“Use mobile applications instead of websites, as it’s much harder to fake them. In any case, they should perform numerous reviews before trusting them. Check the website of a trusted third party; when it comes to exchanges, this could be a government website or cer live.”
