Two Taiwanese men, aged 42 and 43, lost US$100,000 to swindlers who enticed them into buying a batch of fake gold in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, on Wednesday, becoming victims of a scam similar to one reported last month.
At 5pm, the duo went to Regal Kowloon Hotel on Mody Road as four foreigners offered them the chance to buy some gold bars at a discount, HK01.com reported.
Following the scammers’ instructions, the Taiwanese men put US$100,000 in a safe at the hotel while the foreigners put their gold bars inside.
The duo later found the gold was fake. When they returned to the hotel, the money was gone from the safe, as were the bars.
Police categorized the case as obtaining property by deception. They were hunting for four non-Chinese men.
On June 21, a Hong Kong man and a mainland Chinese man fell victim to a similar scam at the same hotel as they lost US$56,000 to three African men who offered to sell some gold bars at a discount.
Read: Duo discovers discounted gold bars are fake, loses US$56,000
There’s one born every minute�