A local woman reported to the Judiciary Police (PJ) on Tuesday that she was cheated by a male netizen, who claimed to be from Macau but was working in the US, out of HK$29,950, PJ spokesman Leng Kam Lon said at a press briefing on Wednesday.
According to Leng, the victim told the police that she met the netizen on January 26 in a social media app. The man claimed that he was a local resident working in the US. The duo became online friends and continued their communication through another smartphone app.
Leng said that the man later told her that he would return to Macau and visit her. Before he came back, he had a parcel containing a large quantity of gold and US$15,000 in cash to be delivered to her for safe keeping on his behalf. The victim provided the man with her address.
On February 21, the victim received a text message from someone who claimed to be from an express delivery company that there was a parcel for her and she was required to pay a “fee” of HK$10,770. The victim confirmed with her netizen friend who promised to pay her the money back after he returned to Macau. The victim initially remitted HK$7,000 to a bank account in Hong Kong and told the express delivery company that she would pay the balance upon receipt of the parcel, according to Leng.
The express delivery company staff later told her to pay a HK$7,750 “security fee” as the parcel contained a large quantity of gold. The victim then remitted the money on February 22 to the bank account in Hong Kong. On February 28 the company staff contacted the victim again and told her to pay HK$15,200 as “guarantee”. The victim then remitted the money. Afterwards, the victim was unable to contact her online “friend” and finally realised that she had been defrauded so she reported the case to the police, Leng said.
