Phone scammers cheat mainland Chinese student in Hong Kong of more than HK$3 million
- Caller posing as courier firm staff told victim she was involved in money-laundering case because of suspicious package addressed to her
A university student from the mainland has become Hong Kong’s latest phone scam victim after being cheated of more than HK$3 million (US$382,000).
The 19-year-old woman received a call on March 18 from someone claiming to work for a courier company. The caller said there was a suspicious parcel addressed to her, and mainland police had been alerted.
Soon after, she received a call from a man claiming to work for the Shanghai police, saying the parcel was involved in a suspected money-laundering case and suggesting that the woman open a bank account on the mainland.
The student opened an account in Shenzhen a day later. When she returned to Hong Kong, two men from “the Shanghai police” called and asked her to transfer 3 million yuan (US$447,000) to the account to prove her innocence.
The victim immediately called her parents on the mainland and asked them to move the money.
On March 20, the woman discussed the incident with a friend, who said she might have been conned. The victim checked the account and found the money had disappeared. She immediately went to North Point Police Station to make a report.
Posing as courier company staff or mainland officials is one of the most common tactics used by phone scammers, and university students from the mainland are among the most vulnerable groups.