New `liaison office' scam victim

2015-7-21

A man claims he was cheated out of HK$500,000 after receiving a phone call from a couple purporting to be a liaison office official and member of the Ministry of Public Security.

The 25-year-old man, surnamed Wong, told police the couple accused him of being involved in money laundering and asked him to transfer HK$500,000 to a designated bank account, or else his account would be frozen.

Wong said he went to the bank and failed to withdraw money from the ATM. He then followed the callers' instructions and transferred HK$500,000 at a currency exchange at Horse Shoe Lane in Kwun Tong.

After the transfer, Wong called the bank and discovered his account had not actually been frozen. He returned to the exchange and asked to cancel the transfer but was refused.

The case has been classified as fraud and is being investigated by the Sau Mau Ping police district's criminal investigation department.

Four days before the case, the liaison office issued a statement clarifying that mainland government officials would not use voicemail to contact Hong Kong residents.

"It is despicable that lawbreakers exploited the name of the central government's highest representative office to engage in acts of deception," a spokesman said.

Three other people have told the liaison office they lost more than HK$3 million to fraudsters.

According to the spokesman, scammers will present themselves as liaison office officials in the voicemail. Once the receiver redials the phone number, scammers will identify themselves to be officials from the Ministry of Public Security.

They will tell the residents they have engaged in money laundering and will be jailed or detained when they enter the mainland.

Scammers will provide another phone number, which belongs to the same party, to the receiver for cross checking.

Western District police station confirmed a staff member of an institution filed an report that imposters had been calling citizens to transfer money to unknown bank accounts.

Police remind citizens to confirm the identities of callers before making any money transfers.

Source: The Standard