Hong Kong woman, 53, conned out of HK$28 million in romance scam that lasted three years
- Her online lover claimed he was a businessman with cargo stuck at customs, asking her to pay for tariffs
- Police say in 2019, three Hongkongers fell victim to such crimes every two days, and targets were mostly women
A middle-aged woman in Hong Kong was conned out of HK$28 million (US$3.6 million) in a romance scam that stretched for three years.
The case was the biggest of its kind reported for 2019, with police saying that on average three Hongkongers fell victim to such crimes every two days.
The 53-year-old woman was among 594 people who were cheated by international love scammers out of a total of HK$218 million last year.
There were 43 reports of online romance fraud in which scammers bagged HK$14.8 million in January this year, compared with 44 cases involving HK$12.3 million in the same month of 2019.
The woman’s case came to light when she filed a police report early last year after losing HK$28 million to her online “boyfriend”.
She transferred HK$28 million to him in more than 100 transactions over about three years
Police said the swindler posed as a businessman from overseas and befriended her on Facebook in late 2015. After establishing a relationship, the man then claimed his business was in trouble and he had cargo seized by overseas law enforcers. He asked the woman for money to pay off tariffs, according to a police source.
“She transferred HK$28 million to him in more than 100 transactions over about three years,” the source said.
Syndicate that conned 139 women in love scams busted in joint operation by police
According to police, men comprised less than 10 per cent of victims in online romance frauds in 2019, the youngest being a 16-year-old boy who called police last October after being conned out of HK$29,000 by his bogus girlfriend.
In 2018, officers handled 596 reports of internet love scams that bilked the city’s residents out of nearly HK$455 million. In the year before, 235 victims lost HK$109 million.
Another source said the number of the cases remained steady over the past two years.
A 66-year-old businesswoman made a police report in August 2018 after losing about HK$180 million – the biggest amount ever in an online romance fraud in the city – to an “engineer from Britain” over four years.
In February 2018, a female public housing tenant, 56, called police after being duped out of HK$26.4 million by a scammer who posed as a financial analyst in Malaysia.
All cases had striking similarities – the con artists would befriend their targets on dating websites or social media and never met their victims in person.
“Fraudsters usually pose as overseas military officers, merchants, or professionals such as pilots, engineers or doctors, and develop relationships with their targets before inventing different excuses to cheat the victims out of money,” a police spokesman said.
Ruses used involved business losses, traffic accidents or handling fees for a large sum of money to inherit. Scammers sometimes claimed they had sent their online lovers expensive gifts which were stuck at customs, requiring the recipient to pay a fee to collect.
Huge surge in online romance scams in Hong Kong in 2018
The spokesman said police would continue joint efforts with overseas law enforcement agencies to tackle such illegal activities.
Since 2016, Hong Kong police, with cooperation from law enforcement counterparts in mainland China, Malaysia and Nigeria, had smashed several transnational fraud syndicates running online romance scams.
The latest such crackdown was carried out last November when police from Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia and Singapore smashed a Malaysia-based racket that swindled 139 women out of HK$34 million.
To avoid falling victim to such scams, police have advised Hongkongers to refrain from revealing too much personal information on social media.
“Stay vigilant while meeting new friends on social media. Be cautious while the other party asks for monetary help,” the police spokesman said.
He urged people to call police’s 24-hour hotline for scams at 18222 or contact officers if necessary.
In Hong Kong, the number of deception cases dropped 1.9 per cent to 8,216 in 2019, from 8,372 the previous year.
Cases of email fraud also dropped 15.2 per cent to 888 in 2019, from 1,023 the year before, but the amount involved surged 47.8 per cent to HK$2.5 billion.
Obtaining property by deception carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail. The offence of money laundering carries a maximum penalty of 14 years behind bars and a HK$5 million fine.
