Man scammed out of $22.8m by fake mainland official

A 37-year-old man lost about HK$22.8 million after being duped by a scammer posing as a mainland official.

The victim was contacted last September and told he was involved in a criminal case in the mainland, which convinced him to download a mobile application and provide his bank details.

He later discovered that a total of approximately HK$22.8 million had been transferred from his account 26 times into six different local bank accounts.

Suspecting he had been scammed, he reported the case to the police earlier this month. 

Police have classified the case as "obtaining property by deception." No arrests have been made so far.