HK woman, 90, loses $43m in phone scam

Crooks posed as Chinese officials and told her to make 11 bank transfers; 19-year-old arrested

HONG KONG • A 90-year-old Hong Kong woman has been conned out of HK$250 million (S$42.8 million) by fraudsters posing as Chinese officials, police said, in the city's biggest recorded phone scam.

Hong Kong's elderly folk are plagued by phone scammers who seek out vulnerable and wealthy victims willing to transfer money or make bogus investments.

Police on Tuesday said scammers targeted an elderly woman living in a mansion on The Peak, Hong Kong's ritziest neighbourhood.

Last summer, criminals pretending to be Chinese public security officials contacted the unnamed woman. They claimed her identity had been used in a serious criminal case in mainland China.

She was told she needed to transfer money from her bank account into ones held by the investigation team for safekeeping and scrutiny, the South China Morning Post reported, citing police sources.

Police said that several days later, a person arrived at her house with a dedicated mobile phone and SIM card to communicate with the fake security agents, who persuaded her to make a total of 11 bank transfers. Over five months, the woman gave a total of HK$250 million to the scammers.

Police said the scam was detected only because the woman's domestic helper thought something suspicious was happening and contacted her employer's daughter, who then alerted officers.

After an investigation, a 19-year-old was arrested for fraud and has been released on bail, police said.

The South China Morning Post said the arrested person is believed to have been the fraudster who turned up at the woman's house.

Wealthy Hong Kong is one of the most unequal places on earth. It boasts one of the highest concentrations of billionaires, many of whom live in palatial homes overlooking densely packed districts where poor families might squeeze into an apartment the size of an American parking space.

With such a high concentration of wealthy elderly residents, the city is a ripe target for phone scammers, many of whom operate across the border in mainland China.

Police say such scams are on the rise. Reports of phone scams rose 18 per cent in the first quarter of this year, with fraudsters pocketing some HK$350 million over the period.

Last year, police said they handled 1,193 phone scam cases where a total of HK$574 million was stolen. In that year, a 65-year-old woman was duped out of HK$68.9 million after a similar scheme where people posed as mainland security officials.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 22, 2021, with the headline HK woman, 90, loses $43m in phone scam. Subscribe