Mainland Chinese visitor whose Hong Kong bank account was used to collect cash from online romance scam arrested

Woman, 42, picked up in Central in connection with swindle that saw victim cheated out of HK$800,000 over five months

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The latest figures show 159 people in Hong Kong were duped out of HK$98 million in online romance scams in the first four months of this year. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:51pm, 15 Jun 2018Updated: 9:32pm, 15 Jun 2018

Hong Kong police have arrested a female visitor from mainland China whose bank account was used to collect some of the proceeds of an online romance scam that left a woman HK$800,000 (US$102,000) out of pocket over five months.

The 42-year-old suspect, holder of a two-way permit – a mainland travel document for entering Hong Kong – was picked up in Central, the city’s main business district, on Thursday.

She was arrested for obtaining property by deception, an offence that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail.

Police said on Friday that the woman had been released on bail pending further investigation. She will have to report back to police in August.

Scammers typically pose as Western men, claiming to be entrepreneurs, professionals, military veterans or retirees, and befriend potential victims online. Photo: Alamy

The victim was a 37-year-old Hong Kong woman who was scammed after she met a man through a phone app in December last year, police said. The scammer claimed to be of mixed French and Singaporean descent and running an interior design business in France.

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