A middle-aged local woman has fallen victim to an online scam in which she lost HK$800,000, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chan Wun Man said during a regular press conference yesterday.
According to Chan, the victim met a man online in August who told her that he was from the United States working as a “field dentist” in Yemen, after which they stayed in touch through an app. The victim told the police that they were not in a romantic relationship, and they never met face to face.
In September, the man requested that the victim receive a parcel for him containing his “dentist certificate”. Later on, she received an email from a logistics company claiming that the parcel had been confiscated and required her to pay a certain amount of money in cryptocurrency.
The victim then went to Hong Kong and deposited HK$800,000 worth of cryptocurrency into the “logistics company’s” bank account. Still, the company requested she transfer more money. Suspecting that she had been deceived, she finally reported the case to the police.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chan Wun Man looks on during yesterday’s regular press conference at the PJ headquarters. – Photo: William Chan
