A finance postgraduate in Hong Kong has lost more than HK$1 million (US$128,652) in a phone scam, the Post has learned, as police reveal they have received over 1,700 reports involving university students so far this year, with losses reaching HK$180 million.
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A police source said on Wednesday that the victim, a mainland Chinese student in his first year of a Master of Finance programme at Polytechnic University (PolyU), was duped on August 20.
“Recently, a university student let down his guard after seeing a scammer dressed in a police uniform and reporting a ‘public security staff number’ during a video call, which led him to believe he was involved in a fraud,” police said in a social media post on Tuesday, referring to the case they revealed.
“The scammer then persuaded him into transferring multiple deposits to a designated account for ‘investigation’. The loss exceeded HK$1 million.”
The victim is studying at PolyU and the case is still under investigation, according to the source.
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Police called on the public not to trust others, even if they appear in police uniforms or show arrest warrants.
Mainland public security [officers] will not call anyone in Hong Kong, nor will they ask for money transfers or the submission of ‘guarantee funds’,” the force said.