VBIT Hong Kong
In early August 2026, Hong Kong and Macao police launched a joint cross-border operation codenamed Junli (峻立), dismantling a criminal group that used wellness coffee as a front for cryptocurrency fraud. By 5 August, Hong Kong police had received 255 reports with losses of about HK$104 million. The largest individual loss was HK$9.63 million, suffered by a 51-year-old woman.
How did an apparently stable coffee investment collect nearly HK$100 million in just months? It combined a carefully designed Ponzi scheme with cryptocurrency.
1. The polished story of a Vietnamese coffee empire
At the end of 2025, FUN COFFEE CO. LIMITED entered Hong Kong with high-profile promotion. It claimed a headquarters on Vietnam's Phu Quoc island, coffee plantations covering 10,000 mu, over US$1 billion in funds and a team exceeding 5,000 people.
It compared itself with Luckin Coffee and Starbucks and suggested a stock-market listing. Promotional films featured purported Vietnamese officials, while anti-fraud leaflets helped create an appearance of legitimacy: fraud marketed under an anti-scam banner.
Selling coffee was not its real objective.
2. Annual returns of 278%: A wealth story faster than printing money
The real scam began after investors accepted the coffee-empire story.
The group offered three investment tiers: Set Sail, Growth and Long Voyage. The highest-return Long Voyage plan required 29,800 USDT, about HK$230,000, for 570 days and promised roughly HK$1 million in profit. This implied a 278% annual return, rising to 433% for periods longer than 570 days.
No normal investment could offer such returns.
The app also offered deposit rewards, referral rewards and daily check-in tasks. Recruiting relatives and friends earned extra rewards, a typical pyramid-recruitment mechanism.
Interested investors were instructed to download and register in the Fun Coffee mobile app, then transfer cryptocurrency to a designated wallet following customer-service instructions. Once the USDT was sent, control of the funds was lost.
3. Why people fell for it: Human psychology and cryptocurrency risks
Police said many victims knew little about the company or investment, but small early returns persuaded them to trust it and invest more.
Some early investors withdrew small returns, lowering their guard. That is a hallmark of a Ponzi scheme: later investors' principal funds earlier investors' profits, creating an illusion of real earnings.
After investors increased their stakes, the Fun Coffee app stopped operating on 20 July. Its offices were empty and support disappeared.
Victims ranged from 32 to 83 years old, including many retirees. Legislator Johnny Ng said most initially joined health activities through community friends, such as earning small payments for exercise videos. Marathons and tea gatherings gradually built trust before participants were directed to the investment app.
Scammers also taught victims to buy cryptocurrency with cash through underground banks or local exchange shops. Use official channels and be alert to instructions from an unverified investment promoter.
4. Joint Hong Kong–Macao operation: Eight arrests and HK$610,000 frozen
The SFC had already placed the Fun Coffee GCM project on its suspicious-investment-product alert list on 13 July. Reports began arriving that month. Following investigation and intelligence sharing with Macao's Judiciary Police, officers conducted the joint operation on 1–3 August.
Hong Kong police arrested one man and five women, aged 51–64, for conspiracy to defraud, including directors, shareholders, the company secretary and key promoters. Macao police arrested two women for aggravated fraud. Searches in Kowloon Bay, Tsim Sha Tsui and elsewhere recovered HK$147,000 in cash and froze about HK$610,000 in suspected criminal proceeds.
By 5 August, reports had risen to 255 and losses to about HK$104 million. Six arrested people were released on bail pending investigation. Police said they would continue working with Macao and overseas agencies to trace suspects and funds.
5. Cryptocurrency is not beyond the law: Compliant channels provide protection
The Fun Coffee case exposes two harsh realities:
First, criminals exploit cryptocurrency's anonymity. Johnny Ng noted that its concealment and tracing difficulties assist fraud. Once USDT reaches a scammer's wallet, recovery is extremely difficult.
Second, non-compliant funding channels facilitate scams. Victims were taught to buy cryptocurrency through underground banks and exchange shops without KYC or fund-source checks. Users may not know who receives the USDT or whether the counterparty's funds are clean.
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