Woman arrested for impersonating officer and defrauding over HK$6m

Police arrested a 24-year-old woman on Wednesday after she impersonated a police officer and scammed five people out of HK$6.15 million. 

Police previously received a report of a phone scam, in which a 52-year-old woman stated that she had received a call from a person claiming to be a mainland public security officer on March 30, falsely claiming that she was involved in a mainland money laundering case. 

Later, when the fraudster approached the woman, she showed a forged Hong Kong police warrant card and asked the woman to sign a confidentiality agreement to gain trust. 

During this period, the fraudster provided a phone to the woman and asked the victim to transfer their phone information, bank account, etc. to the phone. 

The victim felt suspicious, browsed the police's online anti-fraud information, and contacted the Anti-Deception Coordination Centre (ADCC) for help, which revealed the case. 

Sheung Shui police subsequently laid an ambush and arrested the fraudster while she was meeting with the woman on Wednesday (Apr 17). 

The fraudster, 24, claimed to be a waitress. 

After an in-depth investigation, police revealed that the fraudster was involved in five other similar scams. 

She impersonated the police and provided a new phone to request information, taking the opportunity to steal the victim's bank account. 

A man and four women, aged 22 to 67, were scammed out of a total of HK$6.15 million. 

The arrested woman will be provisionally charged with six counts of "obtaining property by deception" and one count of "falsely pretending to be a police officer". 

The case was brought up at the Fanling Magistrates' Courts today. 

Police also mentioned that the forged warrant card was poorly made, and the public should call the police to inquire if they have any doubts regarding warrant cards shown to them by people claiming to be police.