Two local women have separately reported to the police they suspect that they are victims of the notorious Peninsula mooncake scam, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Choi Ian Fai said in a press conference at the PJ Headquarters in Zape yesterday.
One of the victims purchased the mooncakes on August 20 via the online social platform WeChat. The seller claimed that the mooncakes were from The Peninsula Hong Kong hotel, according to Choi.
The victim, whose surname was withheld by the police, is a real estate agent, who has been involved in the online resale business as a sideline for years, Choi said.
The victim told the police that she saw a post on social network platform WeChat Moments by a netizen selling “Peninsula mooncakes” last month. Each box was offered at 100 patacas below the normal retail price. She then purchased 220 boxes by remitting 65,000 yuan (79,350 patacas) to a mainland bank account, and planned to resell them for profit, Choi said.
According to Choi, the victim read an online news article on Friday about Hong Kong customs solving a case of fake Peninsula
mooncakes. After comparing her boxes of mooncakes with the counterfeits shown in the news, she suspected that her mooncakes were also bogus and hence reported he case to the police on Monday.
The spokesman showed a box of the fake Peninsula Hong Kong brand-name mooncakes to reporters, saying that the box was a
“very good copy”. The Judiciary Police are contacting the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department for more information, according to Choi.
Choi also mentioned a separate case in which another local woman also reported to the police on Friday that she was the victim of another mooncake scam. A WeChat user claiming to be an employee of the Peninsula Hong Kong offered the world-famous hotel’s purported mooncakes at a discount of 10 patacas per box. She paid 19,000 yuan via Alipay for the mooncakes in July, but by late-August, she still hadn’t received them.
Choi urged all those who suspect that they have been defrauded by a mooncake-related scam to contact the police.
A number of Peninsula mooncake scams have recently also been reported by the Hong Kong media. Genuine Peninsula mooncakes are famous for their quality.
According to recent Hong Kong media reports, a box of 8 Peninsula mini-egg custard mooncakes cost HK$338 before the seasonal product was sold out.
Mooncakes are a Mid-Autumn Festival delicacy. The festival falls on October 4 this year.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Choi Ian Fai shows a box of bogus Peninsula mooncakes in a PJ press room yesterday. Photo: Joel Chu
