A 16-year-old Form Five student and a person with a triad background were among four suspects arrested by the Hong Kong police in an operation targeting a criminal syndicate using bounced cheques to scam sellers of luxury items.
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Cheung Wai-shan, chief inspector of the force’s regional crime unit in Western District, said on Saturday that the syndicate was responsible for at least 16 cases amounting to HK$380,000 (US$48,568).
The scammers would approach sellers on online buy-and-sell platforms to purchase luxury watches, audio systems or expensive electronics, according to police.
“They would purchase mule accounts which have no actual balances and use their chequebooks to deposit funds into the sellers’ accounts,” she said.
The sellers would hand over the items by post or in person, mistakenly believing that the payment had been deposited into their accounts, only to realise a few days later that they had been scammed when the cheques bounced.
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“The syndicate would then resell the items for profit,” she added.
Police investigations revealed a syndicate operating across Hong Kong using these methods.