Contacted via email by the Sunday Morning Post, she agreed to an interview yesterday. But she refused to disclose her identity, saying only that she was a businesswoman who earned hundreds of thousands of dollars a month.

'I know journalists have started following me... I am worried people might think I just want to be famous if they know who I am,' she said. 'But I am not. I just want to help the poor.'

Her persona is modelled on the Black Rose, a 1965 film starring Connie Chan Po-chu as a character of the same name who steals from the rich to give to the poor. But the Bauhinia Heroine says that the money she is seen giving away on YouTube is entirely her own.

'I run my own business and have money. I have visited hundreds of cage home residents in the past months and pay for the visits myself.'

Her latest donations, in Jordan, were made after the government announced its HK$6,000 handout for permanent residents, which she said was unfair - because poor people deserved to get more than the rich.

Her charitable missions in future would take place at night because she was worried that her true identity would be revealed. She was also considering setting up a 'hero alliance', calling for like-minded costumed crusaders to join her in the fight against poverty. 'But at the moment I will do the visits by myself, to ensure my privacy is protected.'

She says the HK$8,000 she has given away thus far was handed out in two visits to the poor, in Sham Shui Po and Jordan. 'I gave them food, such as hamburgers, cup noodles, rice, oil and biscuits. I also handed out HK$100 to each of them. When there were fewer people, I gave HK$200 each.'

She said she was a regular volunteer and spent most of her time helping people anyway, but without wearing a mask.