Woman loses $2.6m to Agoda impersonation scam

Police have issued an urgent warning after a 27-year-old local woman was defrauded of HK$2.6 million in an elaborate WhatsApp scam impersonating travel booking platform Agoda.

The victim received an unsolicited WhatsApp message earlier this week from fraudsters posing as Agoda recruitment staff. The scammers promised lucrative commissions for helping boost hotel visibility through simple tasks on the travel platform. 

Over the course of 14 transactions, the woman transferred increasingly large sums totaling HK$2.6 million to secure promised payments that never materialized.

Reporters infiltrated one such fraudulent WhatsApp group, uncovering sophisticated psychological manipulation tactics. Posing as "activity coordinators," the scammers offered HK$50 rewards for basic actions like favoriting hotels on Agoda's platform. They enticed victims with claims of earning HK$1,000-2,000 daily through continued participation.

The groups employ dozens of fake participants who post fabricated payment screenshots and enthusiastic testimonials. Comments boasting about faster payouts than vaccine distribution and expressing eagerness to complete more tasks create false social proof to lower victims' suspicions.

After attempting to search frequently appearing "financial officer" contact numbers on the police's "Scameter" anti-fraud platform, the results showed warnings of "high-risk scam" and association with reported fraud cases.

Police data reveals alarming growth in such schemes, with 675 online job scams reported in May alone—356 of which originated from random WhatsApp messages. The police have mentioned these fraudulent groups have members impersonate regular citizens who share their "successful experiences" in order to trick their victims.

Authorities urge the public to verify any unsolicited job offers through official company channels and to utilize the "Scameter" fraud detection tool to check suspicious contacts.