‘Terminal cancer patient in Poland’ dupes Hong Kong woman, 51, out of more than HK$9.6 million in online love scam
- Retiree in city befriended ‘lover’ on Instagram who claimed to be a Korean working in Poland and needed money for a transplant to save his life
- He later told victim he only had three months to live, asking for an upfront fee to transfer US$6 million in assets to her
A con artist posing as a patient in Poland with terminal cancer duped a Hong Kong woman out of more than HK$9.6 million (US$1.2 million) in the city’s latest online romance scam, police revealed on Wednesday.
The swindler, claiming to be a Korean engineer working in Poland, told his 51-year-old victim in 2021 that he had lung cancer and would die if he did not receive an organ transplant, according to a source familiar with the case.
The woman, a retiree living in Hong Kong Island’s Southern district, met her online “lover” through Instagram in September 2021. Police said the fraudster told her he was a cancer patient in the same month. The pair then continued to contact each other on WhatsApp.
Scammers launder HK$29 billion from victims through Hong Kong accounts
“The fraudster claimed he needed money urgently for an emergency organ transplant, otherwise his life was at stake,” the source said.
Between September 2021 and February 2022, the woman was instructed to transfer HK$7.78 million into eight designated bank accounts in Hong Kong in 35 transactions, the source said.
“In May last year, the scammer claimed he had only three months to live and promised to transfer all his assets totalling US$6 million to her, but demanded an administrative fee upfront,” the source said.
The woman then transferred another HK$1.86 million to two designated bank accounts in nine transactions between May and July last year.
She realised it was a scam after being unable to contact the man for months. She called police on January 13. According to the force, the woman lost HK$9.64 million in total. The source said the money was her personal savings.
No arrests have been made yet.
Money lost in romance scams jumps 140 per cent: Hong Kong police
Between January and October last year, police handled 1,309 reports of online romance scams, a 4 per cent drop from 1,369 cases logged in the same period of 2021.
But the amount victims lost rose to HK$578 million in the first 10 months of last year, from HK$483 million in the same period the year before.
Online scammers in such cases generally pose as merchants or professionals in fields such as engineering, banking or the military, charming their victims and forming a relationship before asking for money.
According to the force, the swindlers are constantly changing tactics. Police are urging the public to be wary of who they interact with online.
‘Pig butchering’ love scams from China find new victims to slaughter
Police said scammers also induced their targets to join fake investment schemes.
“Initially victims would make small profits, but after putting in more money they end up suffering huge losses. The fraud is also known as the ‘pig-butchering scam’,” the force stated on its website.
If in doubt, people should contact police’s 24-hour anti-scam helpline on 18222.
