Romance scams lead to losses of over $10M in just one week

Fake shipping labels used in a romance-mail scam

Criminals in Hong Kong have been turning to online fraud as the fastest way to make money, and romance scams are still very much the way women are robbed of their life savings.

In the past week alone, the police said they received 21 reports of online romance scams, with  total losses of more than $10 million. Among the victims was a 48-year-old non-local woman who lost about $4.8 million to an online beau who posed as a cryptocurrency investor.

As often happens  in these cases, a third party is brought into the picture, usually a bank account holder who is enticed to lend, sell, or turn over his or her ATM to the online lover, who then uses it to launder the proceeds from the scam.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

What happens next is that the culprit or culprits disappear without a trace, leaving the account holder, in many cases a foreign domestic helper or any such vulnerable resident, alone to face the prospect of being jailed for money laundering.

According to the police, the victim in this recent case initially received a random message on WhatsApp, which led to her agreeing to have a romantic relationship with the online fraudster. The scammer then started asking the woman to keep putting money in a fake investment scheme.

As what happens in such cases, the fraudster or fraudsters (as there could be several people taking turns wooing and beguiling the victim) disappear when they can no longer squeeze money from the victim.

Basahin ang detalye!

Authorities warn this is not the first time that a romance scam turned into an investment fraud, so people, particularly women, should be wary of unknown people who often pose as professionals, befriending them on social media

These scammers often engage in flattery and confess to some vulnerability to establish a romantic relationship, before engaging in various ploys to extract money from the unsuspecting victim.

A usual excuse is the urgent need for cash because of an emergency, or to pay for customs duties for a valuable gift that the fraudster supposedly sent to the victim. Nowadays, one of the tricks used is  to entice the victim to progressively put in money on a supposed high-yielding investment scheme.

To avoid falling prey to such scams, people are told to verify the identities of unknown individuals who contact them on social media by checking their friends’ lists for any mutual friends, and initiating video calls to at least have an idea of how the other person looks.

Additionally, if asked for large sums for supposed medical expenses, cash flow issues, or customs fees for valuable gifts from abroad, the target victims should immediately stop communicating with the other person.

In addition, everyone must stay away from unheard-of investment platforms, and from downloading unverified applications.