A local woman reported to the police on Monday that she had been cheated out of over HK$1.2 million in a phone scam recently, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lou Chan Fai said at a press briefing yesterday.
According to Lou, the victim in her thirties told the police that she received a call on her smartphone on November 29 from a man speaking Putonghua, claiming that he was an official of the Health Bureau (SSM). The man told her that she had bought a large quantity of illegal narcotic drugs in Shanghai. After the victim denied the matter, the man told her that her personal data might have been stolen, and quickly transferred the call to a man who claimed to be a “prosecutor” from the Public Security Bureau (PSB) in Shanghai. The “prosecutor” demanded the victim reveal her personal data, bank account details together with the password to show that she was innocent. After the victim submitted all the information to the “prosecutor” he told her not to log into her bank accounts until further notice.
The victim grew suspicious about the matter after talking to her family. She then logged into her accounts and discovered five transactions totalling HK$1,236,000 transferred out of her account between December 9 and 17 so she finally reported the case to the police, Lou said.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lou Chan Fai looks on during yesterday’s press conference at the PJ headquarters. Photo: Camy Tam
