A 90-year-old rich woman in Hong Kong has been hit by a phone scam. A few months ago, the rich woman received a phone call claiming to be a “mainland public security officer” and was cheated out of a total of HK$250 million to check whether she was involved in “black money”, the largest phone fraud case in Hong Kong history.
According to Hong Kong 01, the rich woman in her nineties lives in a villa at the Peak on Hong Kong Island, with a foreign driver and two domestic helpers at home.
In August last year, the woman received a call claiming to be a “mainland official”, saying that her identity had been stolen and that she was involved in a serious case on the mainland, and that her bank account had to be checked to see if she was involved in black money.
The “mainland official” asked the rich woman to transfer the deposit to a designated account and promised to return it in May this year. A person claiming to be a “mainland public security official” then went to the rich woman’s residence and provided her with a phone specifically for communication between the two parties.
The rich woman had not heard of similar scams before and was convinced of the identity of the “mainland public security officer” when she saw that he could give her personal information.
In order to confirm her “innocence”, the old woman followed the instructions of the “mainland public security officer” and deposited HK$7.9 million into the other party’s account on August 12 last year.
Subsequently, the rich woman from August 13 to January 4 this year, in 10 instalments of 247 million Hong Kong dollars, deposited into the two accounts of the fraudsters. One of the transfers was accompanied by the fraudster to the bank in person.
The rich woman in five months, a total of about 250 million Hong Kong dollars fraud.
The report said that the rich woman in the bank transfer period, a bank employee had asked her the reason for the transfer, she lied that it was used to buy the Peak property, so the bank did not ask further questions.
During the period, the maid of the rich woman’s family felt that there was something suspicious about the matter and informed the rich woman’s daughter. Instead of calling the police immediately, her daughter asked her friends and relatives to follow her mother and did not stop her from continuing to send money to the fraudster.
It was not until March 2 that the rich woman called the police after being persuaded by her daughter. After investigation, the police froze over HK$9 million in the fraudster’s account.
As previously reported by Hong Kong media, there have been several cases of wealthy women being defrauded of huge sums of money in Hong Kong. on September 7, 2018, a 66-year-old Hong Kong businesswoman reported that she was defrauded of HK$180 million by fraudsters.
The businesswoman, who ran a real estate business and lived in the Mid-Levels on Hong Kong Island, had the tragic death of her husband in 2013. in April 2014, she met a British engineer who claimed to be working overseas through a dating website, and the two quickly developed an online relationship.
During the four-year period, the man borrowed money from the businesswoman under different excuses such as company liquidity problems, and the businesswoman was defrauded of a total of $180 million until she suspected the fraud and called the police, but all the money had been transferred by the man.
In December 2017, a 70-year-old wealthy Hong Kong woman reported that she was defrauded of about HK$68 million by a Hong Kong woman and four men, over a three-year period.
The five scammers used the excuse of investing in foreign properties and financial products to defraud the wealthy woman of her funds. It was not until the wealthy woman could not contact them and suspected she had been cheated that she reported the case. Police then arrested the five criminals, who used the scammed money to buy fancy cars, watches, etc. and spend it lavishly.
According to the Hong Kong police, there were 1,193 cases of telephone fraud in 2020, with a loss of $570 million. In the first quarter of this year, Hong Kong has accumulated 200 cases of telephone fraud, involving $353 million.
Recent Comments