Hong Kong accountant reports losing HK$27 million as city marks surge in investment scams
- Scam trend continues as victims aged 14 to 86 report losses totalling HK$708.6 million from January to April
- Cryptocurrency scams rose, with victims reporting losses of HK$416.6 million; more instances of fraudsters offering stocks logged too
Investment scams surged in Hong Kong during the first four months of the year, with the largest case involving an accountant who reported losing HK$27 million (US$3.4 million), according to police.
From January to April, 1,174 investment scams were reported, rising from 781 cases in the same period last year. Reported losses rose to HK$708.6 million compared with HK$468 million in the first four months of last year.
So far this year, police have arrested 64 suspects – 46 men and 18 women – in relation to investment scams.
“There isn’t a particular demographic that scammers target. Cases could last from half a year to a few days, but losses suffered aren’t small at all,” Senior Inspector Samuel Lau Siu-po of the force’s commercial crime bureau said.
Recent victims ranged in age from 14 to 86. The most serious case involved a 54-year-old accountant who said she lost HK$27 million after a scammer tricked her into making 97 payments into 43 different personal bank accounts in a sham investment deal.