Two more Hong Kong residents caught out by conmen posing as mainland Chinese officials
Two more women have fallen prey to a telephone scam in which fraudsters posing as mainland officials ask victims to transfer hundreds of thousands of dollars after claiming they have had parcels seized.
Hong Kong police said a woman, 35, transferred HK$200,000 to a mainland bank account last week after a bogus official asked her to send some money to help with the “investigation” of a seized parcel sent by her.
She contacted police after discussing the case with members of her family.
Another victim, 25, transferred 110,000 yuan (HK$137,108) to a mainland account after receiving a similar call.
No one has been arrested in connection with either case, police say.
The force earlier revealed that more than 260 people had fallen victim to the fake-official scam so far, with Hongkongers cheated out of HK$85.4 million last month alone.
Police had set up a task force to coordinate all related cases and enhance sharing of intelligence with mainland authorities.
Typically, Putonghua or Cantonese-speaking fraudsters tell victims they have broken mainland laws before directing them to bogus government websites, on which they are shown forged arrest warrants or injunctions containing their photos and other personal details.
