8 Hongkongers cheated out of over HK$2 million in police impersonation scams

Eight Hongkongers have been duped out of more than HK$2 million (US$257,380) after scammers convinced them to hand over cash to avoid fines for bogus money-laundering charges by posing as plain-clothes police officers outside government buildings.

Police said a man and a woman had been arrested, adding that one of them was accused of using fabricated Hong Kong police warrant cards and bogus letters from mainland Chinese authorities to trick victims into believing they had committed crimes across the border.

Acting Superintendent Sung Ching-wai of the regional anti-deception unit of New Territories South said: “To make the scenario more convincing, scammers instructed victims to bring tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands in cash to locations outside courts or government buildings, where the money was handed to accomplices impersonating police officers.”

The eight cases, in which scammers called victims and pretended to be mainland law enforcement officials, took place between March 24 and Monday. The victims, aged between 22 and 83, lost HK$2.2 million in total.

Sung said the male suspect, 23, was apprehended while taking cash from a victim. A fake warrant card and forged letters from mainland police were found on him.

Officers also confiscated HK$310,000 in cash that a victim was about to hand over to the man.