Hong Kong woman loses more than HK$6 million in city’s largest online romance scam
Police are in contact with authorities in Malaysia to catch the fraudster who used Facebook, emails and SMS messages to dupe the woman
A middle-aged Hong Kong woman living in Canada has been conned out of more than HK$6 million since mid-2016, making her the city’s biggest victim of online romance scams.
The Post understands the woman, who often returns to the city and has residency in both places, was duped into transferring the money into several bank accounts in Malaysia in more than 100 transactions in a period of about 18 months but she never met her so-called lover.
A police source said on Tuesday it was the longest lasting online love scam in the city as well as the most money lost. He said scams usually lasted three to six months.
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The case came to light in December when she returned to Hong Kong, realised she was being scammed and reported it to police.
According to police, the scammer played the role of a retired American businessman who lived in Malaysia and sent the woman a photograph of a white man in his 50s to bolster the story.
The fraudster befriended the victim through Facebook in mid-2016 when she was in Canada and then they contacted using Facebook messenger, emails and SMS messages.
“After gaining her trust, he claimed he had HK$100 million [US$12.8 million] in assets that was frozen by authorities in Malaysia because he failed to pay legal and tax-related fees,” a police source said.
“He then sought help from her to pay the fees with the promise of the re-payment once the asset could be transferred out of the country.”