Hongkonger conned out of HK$2 million trying to recover HK$5,000 lost in scam
Fraudster claimed to know ‘team’ that could help recover funds lost in scams, but told victim she had to pay a deposit first, police say
A Hong Kong woman has been duped out of an additional HK$2 million (US$257,800) after a swindler posing as a victim offered to help her recover HK$5,000 she lost earlier in an online shopping scam, according to police.
The force said on Monday that the fraudster claimed to know a “team” that could help recover funds lost in scams, but told the victim that she had to pay a deposit for its services.
The woman, 37, was tricked into the recovery scheme earlier this month after a person on Telegram told her he had also been scammed.
On their CyberDefender social media page, police revealed that “this person pretended to be another victim and falsely claimed that a team behind such scams had successfully recovered the losses”.
The fraudster then instructed the woman to pay the deposit to access those services.
“Believing the claim, the victim transferred money to the scammer 13 times within one week, totalling nearly HK$2 million,” police said.