A young man and two elderly women have separately fallen victim to scam calls impersonating customer service representatives from “Taobao”, resulting in a total loss of 1.4 million patacas, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Cheong Kim Fong said during a regular press conference yesterday.
According to Cheong, the three victims received the fraudulent SMS messages on Tuesday, claiming that their “Taobao funds security insurance” was about to expire and that monthly fees ranging from 720 to 2,000 patacas would be automatically deducted. To cancel the service, the victims contacted the “customer service representatives” via the phone number provided in the message.
Cheong noted that the scammers, who spoke in Mandarin, guided the victims to fake websites where they filled in personal information, bank account details, and identity verification documents. The scammers then instructed the victims to open their mobile banking apps through a website link and carry out a “virtual transfer” for “identity verification.”
Cheong added that the scammers intentionally emphasised that the operation was a “virtual transfer,” claiming it would not lead to an actual transaction and that full refunds would be returned upon successful verification. However, once the victims transferred the funds to the specified accounts as instructed, the money was immediately withdrawn, and the scammers went offline.
Cheong said that the young man transferred a total of HK$999,901 in two transactions, while the two elderly women lost HK$260,000 and HK$142,454 respectively, the three cases incurring a total loss of 1.4 million patacas.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Cheong Kim Fong looks on during yesterday’s regular press conference. – Photo: Ada Lei
