Exclusive | Woman living in Hong Kong public housing conned out of HK$26.4 million by ‘financial analyst in Malaysia’

Swindler pretended to be financial analyst in Malaysia and convinced victim, 56, to borrow millions from family, friends, and banks

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A general view of public housing in Hong Kong’s Sha Tin district. The victim lives in government-subsidised housing in the area. Photo: SCMP

Published: 5:15pm, 30 May 2018Updated: 4:57pm, 31 May 2018

A 56-year-old woman living in public housing has become the biggest victim of online love scams in Hong Kong, losing HK$26.4 million (US$3.3 million) in just 18 months.

The victim, who is a supervisor in the accounts department of a local trading company, blew her life savings on her long-distance lover before borrowing millions from family, friends and banks, according to sources.

She finally realised she was being duped in February and contacted the police anti-fraud squad, which managed to freeze just HK$2 million in local bank accounts.

Hong Kong police and Malaysian police have broken up a Kuala Lumpur-based syndicate they say duped 48 Hong Kong women and one elderly man out of HK$29.5 million since January in online romance scams. Photo: Dickson Lee

The amount the woman lost was nearly double the previous highest total of HK$14 million, which a con artist swindled out of a finance manager over the course of eight years. That case was exclusively reported by the Post this month.

Both cases had striking similarities, with the con artists befriending the women over the internet, gaining their confidence and convincing them to send large sums of money to bank accounts in Hong Kong and overseas.