Romance scam in Hong Kong: Engineer loses over HK$8.5 million in two weeks
The contact began on a dating app, then the "manager" of a supposed dancer demanded ever more money. Police counted at least 18 such cases in a single week.
Symbolic image · Photo: Ceeseven / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
A middle-aged engineer in Hong Kong lost more than HK$8.5 million in an online romance scam over about two weeks, local news site Dimsum Daily reported on Oct. 27. The man met a woman on a dating app who claimed to be a dancer at a private club in Taiwan, according to the report. The conversation moved to WhatsApp, where a person posing as her manager appeared.
The supposed manager asked for money under various pretexts, including "popularity votes" for a dance exam, club membership fees, asset verification and arranging dates. The man transferred funds to 17 designated bank accounts. When additional administrative fees were demanded, his savings had run out. The contacts then cut off communication, and only then did he realize he had been defrauded.
Hong Kong police said at least 18 online romance scams with combined losses of more than HK$13 million were reported in the past week alone. Authorities urged people not to transfer money to contacts they have never met in person and communicate with only by text or video. Requests for "asset verification" or payments to a "manager" are typical fraud tactics, police said. They also advised against sharing personal information.
This article is for information only and is not legal, tax, financial or medical advice. Figures as of the date stated.