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The headquarters of the Hong Kong police force in Wan Chai. Photo: Warton Li

Hong Kong gang used luxury duplex to run love scams that duped dozens out of HK$10 million in total, police say

  • Fraudsters allegedly paid HK$200,000 a month for top-floor flat that became base of operations for ruse that relied on dating apps
  • Police arrest nine people in series of raids, including women suspected of convincing the victims they needed money after catching Covid-19
Crime
A criminal gang paid HK$200,000 (US$25,615) a month to rent a luxury duplex as a base of operations to swindle men out of millions of Hong Kong dollars by setting up fake girlfriends who needed money after becoming “infected” with Covid-19, police claim.

Officers arrested nine suspects in a series of raids across town this week, including at the duplex located on the top floor of an upscale building in Ho Man Tin, the force said.

The gang allegedly conned at least 35 men out of more than HK$10 million between August 2020 and January 2022, with one 35-year-old construction worker losing HK$2.1 million to the scammers.

Female members of the syndicate used dating apps to find their victims, who were then sweet-talked into believing they were in a romantic relationship with the women, according to Chief Inspector Ng Kei-chun of the commercial crime bureau.

Police display evidence seized during the crackdown on the gang this week. Photo: Handout

“These ‘girlfriends’ claimed they were infected with Covid-19 and could not return to Hong Kong, but they had used up all their money. They asked their victims to borrow some money,” he said. “Out of sympathy, the victims transferred money into the designated bank accounts.”

Other gang members then contacted the victims and told them they knew the women and their company could help arrange to settle the debt, but a surety first needed to be paid before the firm could send the money back to the victims, Ng revealed.

Gangsters then allegedly withdrew the money from the bank accounts via ATM across the city. The victims only realised they had been conned when they lost contact with their “girlfriends” or the so-called colleagues, Ng said.

The victims included two postsecondary students, clerks, salesmen, waiters and construction site workers, according to a force insider.

Ng said the gang used the illegal gains to fund their luxurious lifestyle, which included the services of a chauffeur and living in the duplex.

Hong Kong online scam victims report losing HK$3 billion for love, jobs, sex

After identifying the suspects, officers from the commercial crime bureau swooped into action on Wednesday and Thursday and arrested four men and five women, aged from 15 to 69, in a series of raids.

The alleged ringleader – a 42-year-old man – and four of his five key members, including his 21-year-old girlfriend, were picked up at the duplex on Wednesday. Another alleged gang member was arrested after withdrawing HK$20,000 from an ATM.

The remaining three suspects, including a 15-year-old schoolgirl, were detained on Thursday. Police said they were holders of stooge bank accounts that were used to collect and launder the money.

During the raid on the duplex, officers seized about HK$600,000 and six luxury watches along with mobile phones, computers and bogus name cards and documents.

Superintendent Lau Kai-pang of the same bureau said officers also found prepared scripts the women used when chatting up their victims.

The syndicate had a “clear division of work”, with some members assigned to the task of pretending to be the “girlfriends’ while others were responsible for handling the money or preparing the bogus documents.

Lau said the investigation was continuing and further arrests were possible.

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The suspects were arrested on suspicion of committing conspiracy to defraud and money laundering and had been released on bail, pending further investigation.

Police handled 1,659 reports of online romance scams last year, up from 905 cases the previous year. The amount victims lost also rose from HK$212 million in 2020 to nearly HK$600 million last year. More than 85 per cent of the victims were female.

In recent years, criminals have evolved from running mostly romantic scams to ones involving investment fraud as well, which the number rising from 181 in 2020 to 642 last year, with victims reporting losses totalling more than HK$360 million.

Posing as overseas professionals or businessmen, scammers typically went online to chat up victims before convincing them to transfer money under various pretexts or luring them into fake investment deals.

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