Elderly Hong Kong man loses HK$11.4 million after WhatsApp message leads to bogus investment platform
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Elderly Hong Kong man loses HK$11.4 million after WhatsApp message leads to bogus investment platform
An elderly Hong Kong man has been duped out of HK$11.4 million (US$1.45 million) after being tricked into using a sham trading platform to buy mainland Chinese stocks, a police insider has said.
The 77-year-old retiree living in Stanley fell victim to the scam after he responded to a WhatsApp message from a person posing as an investment expert in June.
He was later lured into downloading a bogus trading application to invest in mainland stocks, a source familiar with the case on Friday said.
“As instructed, the victim was coaxed into transferring HK$9.13 million into five bank accounts in Hong Kong for ‘investment’ between September 4 and October 11,” the insider said.
When he requested to cash out, he was asked to pay an administration fee.
“Between October 9 and 11, he paid HK$2.27 million in ‘administration fees’ and transferred the money into another three local bank accounts,” the source said.
The retiree realised it was a scam when he was unable to retrieve the money after making the payments. After discussing the matter with his family, he called police on October 12.
Why are more Hong Kong youngsters getting involved in money laundering, fraud?
Why are more Hong Kong youngsters getting involved in money laundering, fraud?
According to the force, the victim lost HK$11.4 million in total.
Police have classified the case as “obtaining property by deception” – an offence punishable by up to 10 years in jail.
No arrests have been made yet, and detectives from the Western criminal investigation unit are handling the case.
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Police dealt with 1,645 reports of online investment fraud between January and June this year, 106 per cent increase from 798 cases logged during the same period in 2022.
Losses from cases this year reached HK$828.7 million, up 113 per cent from HK$387.9 million recorded in the same period last year.
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