‘Engineer’ claims ‘pirates’ robbed his equipment

A local hotel customer service staff member in her 40s has been cheated in an online fraud out of more than HK$520,000 (US$67,000), Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lai Chio Hong said during a regular press conference yesterday. 

According to Lai, the victim got to know a man who claimed to be an “American engineer” on the Internet in mid-April, and afterwards both kept in touch online. 
On May 12, the “engineer” suddenly claimed that he needed to purchase equipment but did not have enough money. He asked the victim to lend him HK$168,000 for “emergency” use. The victim agreed and remitted the money from a local bank branch to a Hong Kong dollar bank account in Hong Kong. On May 18, the “engineer” claimed that the equipment had been held back by customs officers during the shipment, and he asked the victim to lend him another HK$359,000 to pay the “customs clearance fee”. The victim agreed and remitted the money. 

On May 26, the “engineer” told the victim the equipment had been robbed by “pirates” and asked to lend him an additional HK$350,000. The victim still believed her online friend and went to the bank to arrange the remittance.

The bank staff regarded the transaction as suspicious and notified the police to go to the branch to assist in the matter. The police convinced the victim not to remit the money, and she finally realised that she had been scammed out of HK$527,000 in total. 

The PJ investigations into the cases are continuing, according to Lai. 

Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesmen Lai Chio Hong poses during yesterday’s regular press conference in the pressroom of the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters. Photo: Camy Tam