4 arrested, including 15-year-old, over phone scams targeting elderly Hongkongers

South China Morning Post

a day ago

Hong Kong police have arrested four people, including a 15-year-old boy, linked to four 'guess who I am' phone scam cases this week totalling HK$3.7 million (US$471,900) in losses.
Chief Inspector Tang Tsz-hin of Kwun Tong police district said the four formed a syndicate targeting elderly residents, with victims ranging from 55 to 90 years old. The suspects first lured victims to pay small amounts of a 'guarantee sum' before demanding hundreds of thousands to millions in further payments.
'The force strongly condemns the scammers for recruiting underage teenagers to participate in crime, and targeting the elderly in their actions,' Tang said.
'Many elderly residents lost their life savings over one fraudulent phone call.'
The force received a report on Tuesday from a 71-year-old man who said he had lost HK$1.1 million over two transactions to scammers in a misguided attempt to bail out his son, who had allegedly been detained for multiple crimes in mainland China.
The man only realised that he had fallen for fraudsters' ruses when he called his son after making the payments, prompting him to turn to police.