Five locals reported to the Judiciary Police last week that they had fallen for “fake police” scams, two of whom told the police separately that they were accused by the bogus cops of having sent parcels containing COVID-19 drugs, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Leng Kam Lon said at a press conference yesterday.
Leng said that the five victims all received calls from “mainland police” claiming that they had breached mainland laws and were required to provide their personal information and/or deposit money into certain bank accounts. The victims told the police that they lost between HK$11,200 and HK$726,000 each, Leng added.
Meanwhile, according to Leng, a local woman in her thirties received a call on June 30 from a fraudster claiming that he was a staff member of a pick-up point. The scammer then told her that her parcel contained COVID-19 medicine.
Leng noted that later a “police officer” called the woman and claimed that her parcels had been confiscated that and she was required to travel to Guangzhou for interrogation. The woman then told the scammer that she could not travel due to the COVID-19 situation, Leng said, adding that the scammer replied that he “empathised with” her circumstances and agreed to “handle the case” in a video call.
Leng added that the scammer showed the woman her personal information and a criminal arrest warrant to make it look real.
Leng said that the “police officer” then asked her to fill in her bank account number, as well as related passwords and verification codes on the website provided by the scammer. The scammer also demanded a “funding review” and a “security deposit”, for which the woman borrowed money from her family to deposit the money into the bank account.
Leng said that after the woman deposited the money, she did not receive any feedback from the “police”. Realising that she might have been duped, she reported the case to the police on July 29, saying that she had been defrauded out of HK$726,000, said Leng.
Meanwhile, Leng said that a similar case was reported to the police involving a woman receiving a call from a staff member of the “health department in the mainland” on June 23. The scammer also told her that her parcel contained COVID-19 medicine. The victim fell for the story and reported to the police on July 29 that she had been cheated out of HK$600,000, said Leng.
In order to prevent fraud, Leng urged the public to remain vigilant at all times to prevent unscrupulous characters from taking the opportunity to obtain personal information to defraud their victims. Leng also warned of the ever-changing tactics of fraudsters, and underlined that residents should never provide any personal and bank information to “mainland police” through websites and mobile apps.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Leng Kam Lun looks on during yesterday’s regular press conference at the PJ headquarters in Zape. Photo: William Chan
