A Hong Kong woman has been duped out of an additional HK$2 million (US$257,824) after a swindler posing as a victim offered to help her recover HK$5,000 she lost earlier in an online shopping scam, according to police.
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The force said on Monday that the fraudster claimed to have known a “team” who could help recover funds lost in scams, but told the victim that she had to pay a deposit.
The woman, 37, was tricked into the other fraud earlier this month after a person on Telegram told her he had also been scammed.
On their CyberDefender Facebook page, police revealed that “this person pretended to be another victim and falsely claimed that a team behind such scams had successfully recovered the losses.”
The fraudster then instructed the woman to pay the deposit to access these services.
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“Believing the claim, the victim transferred money to the scammer 13 times within one week, totalling nearly HK$2 million,” police said.
After discussing the situation with friends, she realised she had been scammed again and subsequently reported the case to police last week.