Hong Kong herbalist cheated out of HK$5 million in ‘scam within scam’
- Scammers promised to help him recover HK$1.17 million he lost in an online employment scam in January
- Victim paid out another HK$5 million to the team claiming it would help him recover those lost funds
A Hong Kong herbalist was defrauded for a second time in four months after being cheated out of more than HK$5 million (US$641,000) by con artists pretending to be legal experts who would help him recover HK$1.17 million lost to an earlier online employment scam.
A source familiar with the case said on Tuesday that the Chinese medicine practitioner, 69, initially fell prey to a fake click farming operation after receiving a WhatsApp message from a scammer in January.
The victim was lured into taking part in online tasks to boost sales of cameras and told he would be paid a commission.
“He was tricked into transferring over HK$1.17 million into the scammer’s bank account as an ‘administration fee’ for being employed,” the source said.
The herbalist realised he had been conned when he was unable to get his money back or receive his so-called commission. He made a police report on January 20.
The source said the victim subsequently came across an online advertisement claiming to help victims of deception recover their lost funds through legal channels.