Hong Kong retiree loses HK$2.9m in romance and fake investment scam
A 71-year-old Hong Kong woman lost nearly HK$2.9 million after a man she met on Facebook posed as a power-company employee, formed an online relationship and directed her to a fraudulent investment platform. Police said the case was among 18 romance scams reported in one week.
A 71-year-old retired woman in Hong Kong lost nearly HK$2.9 million after being drawn into a romance and fake investment scam, police said. The woman met a man on Facebook who claimed to work for a power company. The two developed an online romantic relationship despite never meeting in person.
After gaining her trust, the man introduced a supposed waste-recycling investment project in Singapore and persuaded her to download a fraudulent investment application. People posing as customer-service representatives then instructed her to open an account and deposit money. The platform displayed what appeared to be growing investment returns.
When the woman tried to withdraw funds, however, the purported customer-service staff cited various reasons for delaying payment. The scammer later claimed he had been arrested in Singapore on money-laundering allegations and asked the woman to send money for bail and legal expenses. He also told her to visit cryptocurrency exchange shops and deposit cash into designated digital wallets.
Police said the woman exhausted her savings and borrowed from friends and finance companies before transferring nearly HK$2.9 million in 17 transactions. She discovered the fraud only after a finance company demanded repayment. The case was among at least 18 online romance scams reported in Hong Kong during the previous week, with combined losses approaching HK$7.8 million, according to the force’s CyberDefender social media page.
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