CFO of Hong Kong company loses ‘over HK$15 million’ in online investment scam that used bogus mainland China stock trading app
- The 60-year-old man was paid HK$160,000 in profit from initial trades as bait to encourage further investment, source familiar with case says
- Victim had seen Facebook post about investing in mainland Chinese stocks and was contacted by scammer posing as UBS employee
The chief financial officer of a Hong Kong company has become the latest victim of an online investment scam after being duped out of more than HK$15 million (US$1.9 million) in less than two months, the Post has learned.
The 60-year-old man, who had traded stocks for more than 10 years, was paid HK$160,000 in profit from the first few transactions he made on a bogus investment platform, a source familiar with the case on Wednesday said.
The insider said the payment was used as bait to encourage the victim to make further trades and invest more money.
The victim first came across a post on Facebook in May about stock investment in mainland China and left his contact information.
He was later contacted by a scammer posing as an investment manager from Swiss bank UBS, who claimed he had exclusive mainland stock information.