Fraudster claimed to know a 'team' that could help recover funds lost in scams, but told victim she had to pay a deposit first, police say. — SCMP
A Hong Kong woman has been duped out of an additional HK$2mil (RM1.12mil or US$257,824) after a swindler posing as a victim offered to help her recover HK$5,000 (RM2,789) she lost earlier in an online shopping scam, according to police.
The force said on April 28 that the fraudster claimed to know a “team” that could help recover funds lost in scams, but told the victim that she had to pay a deposit for its services.
The woman, 37, was tricked into the recovery scheme earlier this month after a person on Telegram told her he had also been scammed.
On their CyberDefender Facebook page, police revealed that “this person pretended to be another victim and falsely claimed that a team behind such scams had successfully recovered the losses”.
The fraudster then instructed the woman to pay the deposit to access those services.
“Believing the claim, the victim transferred money to the scammer 13 times within one week, totalling nearly HK$2mil,” police said.
After discussing the situation with friends, she realised she had been scammed again and subsequently reported the case to police last week.
Last year, police issued a reminder to the public regarding the dangers of recovery scams, noting that fraudsters often target people who have already been victims.
In June last year, the force highlighted a rising trend of fraudulent websites and companies falsely claiming to recover lost money under the pretence of being private investigators or legal service providers. These organisations primarily advertised online, seeking to exploit victims further.
The force said that fraudsters often preyed on victims’ urgent desire to recover lost money, “claiming they can use lawyers or even police officers to assist in retrieving funds,” thereby initiating a “second scam”.
Police urged the public to remain vigilant about anyone or any organisation claiming they could recover lost money, as victims might end up being scammed again.
“Police will never instruct victims to transfer money or request online banking passwords. If someone claims to be a police officer and you are unsure of their identity, call the ‘Anti-Scam Helpline 18222’ for verification,” the force said.
Before seeking help from professionals, people should thoroughly cross-check their background and qualifications, and examine their credibility through various sources, it added.
Official statistics showed that the total amount of money Hong Kong residents lost in online shopping scams increased by 87% to HK$356mil (RM198.64mil) last year.
Officers handled 11,559 online shopping fraud cases in 2024, marking a 29.2% increase from 8,950 cases in 2023. Correspondingly, monetary losses surged from HK$191mil (RM106.57mil).
To help the public identify fraudulent schemes, authorities encouraged the use of the police’s “Scameter” search engine to verify suspicious websites, emails, usernames, bank accounts, mobile numbers and IP addresses.
Reports of online shopping fraud accounted for 37% of all technology-related crimes last year. In 2024, police handled 33,903 technology-related crime cases, resulting in financial losses totalling HK$5.129bil (RM2.86bil). – South China Morning Post
