Two young local men and a young local woman have separately fallen victim to online investment scams, resulting in a total loss of HK$1.72 million (1.77 million patacas), Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Cheong Kim Fong said during a regular press conference yesterday.
According to Cheong, the two young men came across an advertisement for stock investment on social media in April. After clicking on the link for more information, they were added to a chat group where members discussed stock investment information.
Shortly thereafter, a person claiming to be an investment assistant contacted them separately, introducing a mobile app called INST-SIKK which facilitated stock trading. Both victims expressed interest and downloaded the app. Following the purported assistant’s instructions, they opened accounts and deposited funds - one invested HK$79,000 while the other deposited HK$550,000. By mid-July, when they attempted to cash their “profits,” they discovered that the system did not allow withdrawals.
Having grown suspicious about their investments, the two victims discussed their concerns with each other and finally realised that they had been scammed. They then reported their losses of HK$79,000 and HK$550,000 to the police on Thursday.
Cheong added that a young local woman reported to the police on Saturday that she had fallen victim to a similar investment fraud scheme, resulting in a total loss of HK$1.1 million.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Cheong Kim Fong looks on during yesterday’s regular press conference. – Photo: Ada Lei
