A local middle-aged woman lost HK$7.09 million in an online-dating scam, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Wai Lok said during a regular press conference yesterday.
According to Ho, the victim met on Facebook in mid-October last year a mainland man who claimed to have worked in Macau as a cybersecurity engineer more than 10 years ago. The two then became an online couple, but the man refused to meet in person on the grounds that he was currently working for a company based in Singapore.
On being tricked by the “boyfriend” that he was aware of the contents of his company’s networking platform and that he could place bets and make a profit without any risk involved, the victim made cash deposits, on several occasions, into a Hong Kong bank account provided by the “boyfriend” starting in December 1 last year, including HK$150,000 in cash deposited on December 1 and HK$340,000 deposited on December 17, Ho noted.
The victim did not report the scam to the police until Wednesday when she was asked by her “boyfriend” to delete all her chat records with him, after which she lost contact with him, reporting a total loss of HK$7.09 million.
Meanwhile, the Judiciary Police on Wednesday received another report from a local male senior citizen about losing 1,559 yuan (1,714 patacas) in a credit card theft case late last month.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Wai Lok looks on during yesterday’s regular press conference at the PJ headquarters in Zape. – Photo: Yuki Lei
