Woman, 90, loses £23MILLION to phone scammers in Hong Kong who claimed her identity had been used in a serious crime in China
- Police said scammers targeted elderly woman living in rich Hong Kong district
- Criminals contacted the unnamed woman pretending to be Chinese officials
- Woman was told she needed to transfer money into scammers’ accounts
A 90-year-old woman has been conned out of £23million by scammers in Hong Kong who posed as Chinese officials in the city’s biggest recorded phone scam.
Police on Tuesday said scammers targeted an elderly woman living in a mansion on The Peak, Hong Kong’s ritziest neighbourhood.
Last summer criminals contacted the unnamed woman pretending to be Chinese public security officials. 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 on Tuesday said scammers targeted an elderly woman living in a mansion on The Peak (pictured), Hong Kong’s ritziest neighbourhood
Police said 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 elderly lady gave a total of HK$250 million (£23million) to the scammers, the largest sum recorded yet by a phone con.
Police said the scam was only spotted because the elderly lady’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.
Last summer criminals contacted the unnamed woman pretending to be Chinese public security officials
The South China Morning Post reported that the arrested person is believed to have been the fraudster who turned up at the lady’s house with the phone.
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 car parking space.
With such a high concentration of wealthy elderly residents, the city makes a ripe target for phone scammers, many of whom operate across the border in mainland China.
Reports of phone scams rose 18 per cent in the first quarter of 2021 with fraudsters pocketing some HK$350million (£32.3million) over the period.
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