‘Devastating’ losses: scammers targeting mainland Chinese students in Hong Kong
Fraudsters have cheated mainland students out of HK$110 million in first nine months this year
Mainland Chinese student Zhang Li* was devastated after losing 200,000 yuan (US$25,734) in a phone scam in Hong Kong.
Her call was subsequently transferred to another person posing as a mainland law enforcement officer after she explained that she did not speak Cantonese.
She was told that her Hong Kong mobile number had been used to disseminate false information and that her mainland identity details were linked to a bank account involved in laundering about 800,000 yuan.
Zhang said she was asked to join video calls with a person dressed as a law enforcement officer and was shown documents, including an alleged arrest warrant bearing her photo, and a website with images of purported victims in her case.
She was warned not to tell anyone, so she kept it from her parents and friends. She also isolated herself in a hotel room for about a week.