2 locals lose HK$13 million in investment scams: police

2025-07-23 03:22

BY Ada Lei

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A middle-aged local man and a middle-aged local woman have separately fallen victim to online investment scams, resulting in a total loss of HK$13 million (13.3 million patacas), Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Cheong Kim Fong said during a regular press conference yesterday.

According to Cheong, the male discovered an investment advertisement on social media in May. After clicking on the link, he joined an investment group where members frequently discussed investment news. Soon afterwards, someone claiming to be an “investment assistant” contacted him and recommended an “investment website”. After registering an account, the “assistant” provided “accurate” investment advice, appearing to show that the victim was making significant “profits”.

Between May and July 14, the man made multiple deposits into his investment account, totalling HK$12 million. By July 14, his account balance indicated that the principal, along with the “profits” had reached HK$100 million. However, when he attempted to withdraw his funds, the website demanded a payment of HK$5 million as a “handling fee.” Lacking funds to cover the “fee”, the victim discussed the matter with his family and finally realised that he had been scammed. The victim then reported his total loss of HK$12 million to the police on Friday.

Meanwhile, Cheong also said that a local woman reported to the police on Monday that she had fallen victim to a similar investment fraud scheme. She came across an investment advertisement on social media in April, after which an “investment assistant” added her to a group. Following the assistant’s instructions, she downloaded an app called AOT-SIGEMA and made 10 deposits from June 3 to July 17, amounting to HK$1.1 million. When she tried to withdraw her funds, she lost contact with the assistant. Realising she had been scammed, she reported her total loss of HK$1.1 million to the police on Monday.