A 44-year-old decoration worker lost 3 million yuan (US$435,471) to phone scammers, who claimed to be officers of China’s immigration and public security departments, accusing him of committing criminal offenses.
On April 8, the new migrant from mainland China surnamed Lin received a phone call from at his workplace on Lee Garden Road in Causeway Bay from a scammer, who claimed to be an immigration officer, Sing Tao Daily reported. He said Lin was involved in certain criminal offenses in China and then transferred him to another person, who claimed to be a Shanghai police officer.
The second scammer said he could settle the case if Lin could make a guarantee by disclosing his mainland bank account number and password.
On April 13, Lin discovered that his entire 3 million yuan in savings had been withdrawn from the mainland account, Wen Wei Po reported. He called the police. The case has been categorized as obtaining pecuniary advantage by deception.