New twist to Hong Kong dog meat sales scam as police find buyers of other products cheated, including man duped out for HK$415,000 over HK$25 instant noodles
- Police say scammers deceived customers buying other products by urging them to download Android app for placing orders which allowed them to control users’ phones
- Man responded to instant noodle advert on Facebook and transferred HK$25 through app’s fake banking page, before finding HK$415,000 had been stolen from him
A scam involving the sale of dog meat has taken a new turn after a Hong Kong police probe found that at least nine customers buying other products were duped out of HK$1.36 million through the same app, including a man who lost HK$415,000 after trying to purchase HK$25 instant noodles.
Police revealed their latest findings on Monday after authorities launched an investigation a day earlier into an online trader on Facebook claiming to sell dog meat – illegal in Hong Kong – following a public outcry over the adverts. Officers said there was no evidence to suggest dog meat had been sold or delivered so far.
The force, however, said it had received 11 reports of suspected scam cases involving the use of the app from mid-September to Sunday. Nine victims who tried to buy other products incurred losses ranging from HK$9,000 to HK$415,000, with more than HK$1.36 million taken in total.
Chief Inspector Lau Ngo-chung said the scammers deceived customers by urging them to download an Android app – Trojan horse malware – for placing orders.
He said the app required users to agree to terms and conditions that allowed scammers to control the buyer’s phone, divert victims to a fake banking login page, and trick them into entering their name and password when ordering products, ranging from food to travel packages and car rentals.
“The scammers can remotely control buyers’ phones even if they are on a blank screen. They then utilise the information they entered to access their real bank accounts to transfer their funds away,” Lau said.
Early this month, a man in his sixties responded to an instant noodle advert on Facebook and transferred HK$25 through the app’s fake banking page, before finding HK$415,000 had been moved to another local bank account that day and the next. He later made a report to police.
The force said those who failed to download the app, which was only available for Android phones, were asked to pay HK$30 to a Faster Payment System (FPS) number linked to a local animal shelter and the scammers would cut off contact.
