Two male university students, from Hong Kong and the mainland, have separately been defrauded out of HK$155,000 and HK$580,000 in fake police scams, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chong Kam Leong said yesterday during a regular press conference.
In the first case, the Hong Kong victim received a phone call earlier this month from someone claiming to be a mainland police officer. The “officer” told the victim that his mainland phone number was involved in spreading fraudulent messages, and demanded the victim stay in a mainland hotel room for a covert “investigation”.
The victim complied and stayed in the hotel room for 11 days, during which he deposited a total of HK$155,000 into the scammer’s bank account for an alleged “asset review”. The victim only discovered that he had been scammed after discussing the issue with his peers and reporting the case to the police on Friday.
In the second case, the mainland victim was also accused by a bogus mainland police officer of spreading fraudulent phone messages in the mainland. He transferred HK$580,000 to the fraudster for the same purported “asset review” reason, only to find out later after talking to a friend that he had been scammed.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chong Kam Leong looks on during yesterday’s regular press conference. – Photo: William Chan
