Hong Kong online stocks con men use romance, get-rich-quick schemes to trick victims in Singapore, Macau
- Fraudsters fool victims outside Hong Kong into putting millions into ‘pump and dump’ scam
- Spike in online investment fraud cases up to October, with 379 reports involving HK$196 million
For three weeks earlier this year, a female executive in Singapore was wooed over the phone by a sweet-talking Hong Kong man who professed his love for her and said he could not wait for her to meet his parents.
When he told her to put all her savings into a hot stock, she did as he suggested. Then she watched in horror as the share price crashed, her phone lover vanished and she found herself HK$700,000 (US$90,300) poorer.
“This pain will be with me for the rest of my life,” said Jessica Lee*, 41, one of the latest victims of a “pump and dump” investment scam.
Lee and two others told the Post how they fell victim to Hong Kong fraudsters. A project manager in Macau said he lost HK$3 million, and it dashed his hopes of buying a home or expanding his wife’s business. A man in Singapore who said he lost considerably less – HK$20,000 – still cannot believe he was fooled, because he considered himself a savvy investor.
All three reported the cases to Hong Kong authorities, but do not expect to get their money back. They asked what the city’s authorities were doing to stop these scammers.
