1st February 2023 – (Hong Kong) At about 4pm yesterday afternoon, a 43-year-old man reported to the police at 198 Wellington Street, Central, saying that he had successfully earned about HK$400 in commission by completing tasks on an online platform earlier, but the victim then deposited a total of about HK$2.5 million into a designated bank account 35 times to complete the task as instructed, and then lost contact with the platform staff. Suspecting that he had been cheated, the victim sought help from police.
After a preliminary investigation, the officers classified the case as “obtaining property by deceit”, and no one has been arrested yet. At about 8pm. on the same day, a 23-year-old man also reported to the police, claiming that he had responded to a stranger’s recruitment advertisement on a social platform earlier. Similar to the modus operandi of other scams, he was required to click on products of a shopping website to increase the reputation of the merchant on the shopping platform to earn commissions. However, after the victim repeatedly deposited about 200,000 Hong Kong dollars into the two bank accounts designated by the other party for shopping on the platform, he lost contact with the scammer. The case is also classified as “obtaining property by deception”, and no one has been arrested yet.