Elderly, housewives tricked out of HK$9m
Con artists pocketed HK$9.2 million from 'spiritual blessing' scams in the first eight months of this year, almost 23 per cent more than for the same period last year.
The number of victims cheated by blessing gangs also increased by 24 per cent from 83 to 103 in the same period, police said. In the whole of last year, there were 129 cases involving a total loss of HK$11.3 million.
In the first eight months this year, officers arrested 17 people in connection with the spiritual blessing trick, compared with 13 last year.
Six mainlanders who came to Hong Kong on Monday were arrested yesterday when they tried to cheat an elderly woman in Yuen Long. Officers arrested another five mainlanders in another case on August 23.
Police said the 11 mainlanders - six men and five women - were from the same city - Maoming - in southwestern Guangdong.