A local woman who told police she was an investment-company director lost HK$45 million after transferring money to a fake investment site, police said. About 90% of the recipient accounts were different personal bank accounts.
The woman commented beneath an investment video on WeChat and received a reply. They exchanged phone numbers and continued discussing investments on WhatsApp. The person then introduced her to a fake environmental investment website, promoting it as offering high returns.
Following instructions from the site's customer service, she made more than 60 transfers.
The website showed apparent profits of HK$650 million at one point. The woman realised she had been scammed when she could not withdraw money.
Police said they had received more than 30 online investment scam reports in the past week, with losses exceeding HK$60 million. In a warning shared through CyberDefender, police urged people to be wary of investment sites directing funds to personal bank accounts and to verify a site's authenticity before transferring money. They also advised checking through open-source information whether a site had been registered recently, and recommended the Scameter+ app to assess scam and cybersecurity risks.