An air conditioner shop owner has been defrauded out of HK$90,000 in a scam involving 50 mattresses that she had ordered, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lei Chi Hou said at a press conference yesterday.
According to Lei, the female victim received a phone call from an individual claiming to be an employee from a school surnamed Lei on Sunday. Lei claimed that all the air conditioning units in the school required additional refrigerants. The two arranged a meeting at the school gates the following morning.
Lei did not show up the following morning, instead, he told the victim in a phone call that due to a commitment to order 50 mattresses for an orphanage as an act of charity, they would be unable to meet in person. Lei then asked the victim whether she could order the mattresses for him for a certain commission.
Lei then sent a photo of a purported bank transfer receipt of HK$160,000 to the victim. After the owner transferred HK$90,000 to the “mattress vender”, Lei asked the victim to order another 50 mattresses. In fact, she did not receive any of the mattresses.
The victim finally grew suspicious and promptly called the school, only to be informed that no such Lei existed. The victim subsequently reported the case to the police.
