Internet users are being warned to be vigilant when making friends online after a woman was duped into remitting more than HK$1.2 million into a bank account in Britain.
The 43-year-old sent a total of £105,000 (HK$1.265 million) through two different Hong Kong banks on April 5 and April 22 after a man she met online told her he needed the money urgently.
"She was told he had been arrested by police in Britain and needed money," one police officer said.
Investigators learned that the woman, who lives on the mainland, met the man, who said he was English, on the internet in January.
He told her he needed a further £45,000 and yesterday she again travelled to Hong Kong to send him the money through a bank in Mong Kok.
This time, the victim, a two-way permit holder, was warned she might have been swindled. She then reported the incident to the Hong Kong police.