A 19-year-old university student who lives in a luxury apartment in Mid-Levels, Hong Kong Island, lost 40,000 yuan (US$6,000) to a phone scam.
The student, surnamed Guo, told Hong Kong police that a Mandarin-speaking woman who claimed to be an immigration officer called her mobile on Wednesday morning and accused her of being involved in some matters in mainland China, Oriental Daily reported.
The caller then put Guo on the line with another suspect, posing as an officer of the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau, who accused Guo of being involved in a money-laundering case and asked her to deposit 40,000 yuan in a bank account on the mainland.
The caller told Guo that she could get the money back if the investigation found her innocent.
Guo made the deposit at a currency-exchange shop.
Once she realized she had been swindled, she told her family in the early hours of Thursday. They reported the case to the police.
Wan Chai police are following up on the case, which was classified as obtaining property by deception.
Guo studies at a university overseas and came back to Hong Kong for the summer in July, Sing Tao Daily reported, adding that she and her family immigrated to Hong Kong from the mainland a few years ago.
They live in a 2,200-square-foot (200-square-meter) apartment in The Mayfair estate on May Road in Mid-Levels.