Online fraudsters arrested after luxury watch scam revealed
Two fraudsters posing as consumers tricked people into selling luxury watches via online auction platforms using cheques that bounced, police said on Tuesday.
Two fraudsters posing as consumers tricked people into selling luxury watches via online auction platforms using cheques that bounced, police said on Tuesday.
Police revealed the ploy after learning that five people had been cheated out of five watches worth a total of HK$250,000.
In a crackdown against internet shopping fraud, police arrested a 16-year-old schoolgirl and a 30-year-old man in connection with two of the five cases.
Once the sellers had checked the account balance using an ATM or e-banking service and saw the payment recorded, they handed over their watches
On Tuesday morning, the man, wearing a black hood to conceal his face, was escorted back to his home in Sha Tin where officers seized bank cards, a computer and mobile phones.
None of the five watches was recovered in the operation.
Senior Inspector Chiew Tsi-huen of New Territories North regional crime unit said fraudsters pretending to be buyers targeted sellers of luxury watches on internet auction sites. After agreeing on a price online, a face-to-face transaction would be arranged, he said.
“At the face-to-face meeting, the sellers were told the money had been deposited into their bank accounts,” he said. “Once the sellers had checked the account balance using an ATM or e-banking service and saw the payment recorded, they handed over their watches.”
The sellers only discovered the fraud after the cheques deposited by the buyers bounced, said Chiew.