The discovery of a suspicious, cash-stuffed wallet lying on a pharmacy's floor has reignited warnings about an age-old "dropped money" scam in the city.
The incident, widely shared on social media since yesterday, began when a shopper at a major chain pharmacy noticed a masked man lingering nearby.
The poster later spotted what appeared to be a dropped wallet beside their basket as he prepared to leave.
An uploaded photo showed an old, half-open black-and-brown wallet placed unnaturally between the shelves and the basket, with a HK$500 note partially visible.
"It looked completely unnatural, as if intentionally staged to draw attention," the user wrote.
Suspecting a trap, the poster avoided touching it and alerted staff instead.
Just as a store employee bent down to retrieve the wallet, the masked man rushed forward, calmly presenting identification to claim it with practiced ease.
His swift, composed reaction only deepened the shopper's suspicions, convincing him that he had narrowly escaped the classic ploy -- picking up the "lost" wallet and facing accusations of theft.
The post quickly gained attention, drawing hundreds of comments urging extreme caution.
"This is definitely a scam. The safest move is not to touch it at all," one commenter stressed.
Many echoed this sentiment, advising the public to notify store staff or the police directly rather than picking up a lost wallet themselves.
Some users linked it to an older "dropped money" scam that was once common in the mainland, suggesting the tactic from decades ago may now be revived in Hong Kong.
Reflecting on the evolving nature of street scams, one commenter noted, "People are becoming hesitant to help strangers on the street for a reason. It's a dangerous world, making people colder."
Reflecting on the evolving street scams, "People are becoming hesitant to help strangers on the street for a reason. It's a dangerous world, making people colder," one commenter lamented.
