Three fraudsters arrested for over miracle doctor con

Police arrested three fraudsters in Lok Ma Chau and Mong Kok on Thursday for committing four miracle doctor scams worth about HK$250,000.

Police recently took notice of the revival of the miracle doctor cons and received reports regarding four cases involving about HK$250,000.

After conducting an in-depth investigation and combing through security footage, they were able to lock on to the identity of the scammers.

The New Territories North district police conducted their arrests and arrested the hustlers in Lok Ma Chau and Mong Kok, respectively, including 1 man and 2 women, aged between 54 and 70 holding re-entry permits, on suspicion of obtaining property by deception.

During the operation, the police seized a small amount of gold jewelry suspected to have been obtained through fraud.

The three fraudsters are currently being detained for investigation.

The police pointed out that the scammer's methods of duping their prey was to first strike up a conversation on the street, claiming that their family was sick and wanted to seek treatment from a nearby miracle doctor.

After that, the victim was taken to a place with fewer people, and another scammer pretended to be the child of the miracle doctor.

After chatting with the victims and gaining their trust, they would claim that the victim has an evil spirit or a spirit in the victim's home, which would affect the health of their family that could even lead to bloody disasters.

Believing it to be true, the victim would follow the scammer's instructions and put the valuables at home in plastic bags handing them over to the scammer for a blessing.

During the process, the fraudsters would use bottled water and sundries to swap with the original contents of the bag and steal the valuables.

When the victim takes the prayer bag home and opens it, they will learn that they have been swindled.