Two young men arrested for HK$200,000 attempted impersonation scam
Police arrested two fraudsters in Tsuen Wan on Thursday for attempting to swindle a 69-year-old man out of HK$200,000 by impersonating his son.
The elderly man told police he earlier received a call from a man who spoke Putonghua and claimed to be his son. The elderly added the man also claimed he was arrested by police and asked for HK$200,00 so that he could be released on bail.
The elderly man felt suspicious and contacted his real son, who was in the U.S., and found out the man who called him earlier was a fraudster. He then filed a police report but remained in contact with the fraudster.
The case was then handled by Tsuen Wan district crime squad, as officers instructed the elderly man to meet the fraudster on Lo Tak Wai in Tsuen Wan.
As a 15-year-old teenager named Hau approached the elderly man to collected the money, officers ambushed and arrested him. Police also caught a 21-year-old man named Lee on the lookout and arrested him.
Under police caution, both Hau and Lee admitted they were recruited to collect the money from the elderly man and would get paid HK$1,000 should their gig went well.
They were arrested for obtaining property by deception and police seized two phone during the operation. The elderly man didn’t suffer any monetary losses in the end.
Police reminded the public to stay alert and encouraged citizens to report suspected crimes by dialing the anti-scam hotline (18222).