Time and again, we come across scary stories of people’s security being compromised due to various scams, showing the dark side of the digital world. For instance, a Delhi woman was robbed of 41 lakh in Bitcoins by hackers as part of a 50 crore monster scam, or how a Mumbai businessman lost Rs. 1.86 crore after getting 6 missed calls from scammers.
As per a report in The Guardian, in one of Hong Kong’s biggest recorded phone scams, some fraudsters posing as Chinese officials conned a 90-year-old elderly female millionaire out of HK $250 million dollars (Rs. 243 crores approx.) She lived in a mansion on The Peak, which is considered to be one of Hong Kong’s ritziest neighborhoods.
Photo: Sunrise at the Peak, Hong Kong, by johnlsl https://t.co/MxvZuUYsOQ pic.twitter.com/AFXCWL65mg
— China Digital Times (@CDT) April 17, 2021
Last summer, the criminals called her pretending to be Chinese public security officials. They claimed that her identity has been misused in mainland China in a serious criminal case. She was further told that she would have to transfer money from her bank account to the investigation team for scrutiny and safekeeping.
Several days later, a person arrived at her residence and persuaded her to make a total of 11 bank transfers. He communicated with the fake security agents through a dedicated mobile phone and SIM card. Over 5 months, she lost a total of HK $250 million dollars (Rs. 243 crores approx.), which is the largest sum recorded yet by a phone con.
As per police sources, the scam was spotted thanks to the elderly woman’s domestic help who contacted her employer’s daughter to raise alarm at the suspicion. The daughter then contacted the police.
After the investigation, a 19-year-old was arrested for the fraud, but later released on bail as well.
Pocketing money by duping innocent people is absolutely shameful and awful. We hope that the phone scammers are caught soon.