Hong Kong police investigate money lending scheme offering ‘cash vouchers’ to domestic helpers

Force investigating sales of cash vouchers and harassment of helpers and their employers

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Two NGOs and a lawmaker have said they logged reports almost every month since as early as March from helpers who had been harassed or threatened by illegal money lenders. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 12:00pm, 28 Jul 2024Updated: 4:13pm, 28 Jul 2024

Hong Kong resident Sarah Jackson* woke up to a series of threatening messages from a debt collector who demanded about HK$3,000 (US$410) to repay a loan her helper was said to have taken out with a phone store.

The sender, who claimed to have Jackson’s personal information, said in one message: “We will not stop reaching your number … we will conduct a field visit if no payment [is] made.”

Jackson – who has reported the harassment to police – and her helper are among the victims in a rising trend of cases involving domestic helpers lured into taking out high-interest loans and then threatened with violence to recover the money.

Two NGOs and a lawmaker said they had logged reports almost every month since as early as March from helpers who had been harassed or threatened by illegal money lenders by text message and through social media.

Victims told the NGOs that reporting their cases to police did not stop the harassment.

“Police turned the employers away by saying the issue was a financial dispute between helpers, and did not even bother to take statements from them,” said Chrystie Lam Hau-yiu, the president of the Coalition of Global Home Service Sustainable Development, who has handled inquiries from employers.