A local woman was cheated out of HK$4.2 million in an online investment scam, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Chan Nam said at a press briefing on Wednesday.
According to Ho, the 41-year-old female victim reported to the Judiciary Police on Monday that she was cheated out of HK$4.2 million in an online investment scam. She told the police that she got to know a male netizen in November last year and they had been keeping in touch. The man later persuaded the woman to invest in mining and he showed her purported information about the profit he had gained from the investment.
Ho said that the woman transferred cash 21 times between December 23 last year and February 21 totalling HK$4.2 million for the investment. After receiving the payment, “customer service staff” told her that the investment was under process and the settlement would be completed on March 1. Afterwards, the “customer service staff” told the woman that she was required to pay US$300,000 as tax in order to withdraw the money from her investment account. When the victim attempted to ask her netizen friend about the tax, she was unable to contact him. The victim finally realised that she had been cheated and reported the case to the police.
