A local 19-year-old male was scammed last week after he paid HK$29,111 to an online “pharmaceutical vendor” for COVID-19 medicine, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei said at a regular press conference yesterday.
According to Lei, the victim contacted the “pharmaceutical vendor” earlier this month to purchase some COVID-19 medicine. Both agreed to use an intermediary for the transactions, after which the victim placed six orders for the medicine transferring a total of HK$20,000 to the vendor from January 4 to 7, but the scammer told the victim on Wednesday that the medicine had been confiscated and an additional fee of over HK$6,000 was required.
The victim paid the sum, but the “pharmaceutical vendor” kept coming up with excuses and eventually the victim lost contact with the scammer. The victim, after confirming with the logistics company that there was no record of the tracking number provided by the scammer, finally realised that he had been cheated and reported the case to the police on Saturday, Lei said.
The victim reported losing HK$29,111. Lei did not elaborate on what the other HK$3,111 was for.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei looks on during yesterday’s press conference. – Photo: William Chan
