90-year-old woman living in mansion on The Peak conned out of US$32 million in Hong Kong’s biggest phone scam
- Woman received call from fraudsters who said her identity had been used in crime in mainland China and they needed to verify origins of her money
- She followed their instructions and transferred HK$254.9 million into three bank accounts before realising she was duped
A 90-year-old woman living in a mansion on The Peak was conned out of about HK$250 million (US$32 million) by criminals impersonating mainland officials, making her the biggest known victim of a phone scam in Hong Kong.
Police arrested a 19-year-old university student late last month in connection with the crime and officers froze bank accounts containing HK$9 million, but the phone scammers have made off with the rest.
Officers from the Central district crime squad began investigating after receiving a report from the victim last month.
According to the force, the woman received a call from a man claiming to be a mainland law enforcement official in July last year.
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“She was told her identity was used in a serious criminal case in mainland China,” a police source said. “She was then instructed to transfer her money to designated bank accounts to investigate whether the cash was the proceeds of crime.
“She was promised that all the money would be given back to her after the investigation.”