The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong today warned the public against entities operating under the names of “CBEX Group” and “Bitget Pro”.

These entities are suspected of fraudulent virtual asset-related activities.

CBEX Group operates its website at https://cbexokl.com/. The SFC notes that CBEX Group has adopted a name that is very similar to that of a property rights trading organisation based in China, when in fact they are not associated. CBEX Group claims to be headquartered in Canada and that other CBEX sub-brands operating globally include CBEX Japan’s digital asset trading platform.

While it also claims that it holds a compliant digital asset license on its website, it does not in fact hold any relevant digital asset licence in Canada or Japan. Hence, it would appear that CBEX Group may give a false and misleading impression that CBEX Group’s services and business are properly licensed and legitimate, inducing others to trade on its platform.

Bitget Pro operates its websites at https://bitgetprokl.com/ and https://bitgetpromc.com.

Investors reported difficulties with virtual asset withdrawals or unauthorised withdrawals. The SFC suspects that the platforms may have deceived investors with fake withdrawal records.

At the SFC’s request, the Hong Kong Police Force has taken steps to block access to relevant websites. Notwithstanding the action taken, the public should beware that scammers may continue to create websites with similar domain names.

The regulator also added CBEX Group and Bitget Pro and their respective websites to the SFC’s Suspicious Virtual Asset Trading Platforms Alert List on 23 April 2024.

Online investment scams may involve any type of assets and are perpetrated through multiple channels, and investors can suffer substantial losses. Therefore, investors should stay vigilant and beware of fraud when making investment decisions.