Scammers lure student to Thailand, demand $10m ransom

Marcus Lum

A 22-year-old mainland student pursuing a master's degree in Hong Kong was deceived into traveling to Thailand after receiving calls from scammers posing as mainland and Hong Kong officers and eventually forced to hand over 500,000 yuan (HK$535,117).

The young woman was lured into staying at a Bangkok hotel late last month, while the scammers told her parents that she had been kidnapped and demanded a ransom of 10 million yuan (HK$10.7 million). She eventually was rescued by Thai police via cooperation with Interpol.

This marks the first time a scam victim had been defrauded in Hong Kong and taken overseas, Hong Kong police said yesterday, adding that the SAR recorded 874 similar cases in the first 10 months of this year involving financial losses exceeding HK$1.4 billion - more than double from last year.

The scam victim, Ms. K, said in a press conference in Hong Kong that she received calls from people who claimed to be officers from the Hong Kong Immigration Department and the mainland's public security authorities on November 15.

"[The scammers] said the phone card and bank account under my name were involved in fraud and money laundering activities in the mainland and I was told I would be restricted from entering or exiting the country and my bank account had to be frozen for investigation," she said.

She said the scammers questioned her through phone calls and messaging apps, during which one of the calls lasted for eight hours, leaving her no time to think.

"I believed in [the scammers] because they were wearing mainland Public Security uniforms and had identification documents and a warrant with my information on it," said the victim.

She was forced to follow their orders and lured to Guangzhou by high-speed rail, where she handed over 500,000 yuan in cash to the scammers as a surety on November 27.

After handing over the money, the victim was lured to head to Bangkok with a new phone and was unable to inform anyone, including her parents.

On the same day, the scammers immediately called the victim's parents, claiming that their daughter had been kidnapped and demanded a ransom of 10 million yuan. The parents then reported the incident to the police for help.

Senior inspector Jeffrey Lau Chi-fung of the police's regional public order event investigation team of Hong Kong Island said it was the first time a victim was defrauded from Hong Kong to overseas.

"After taking over the case, the police immediately investigated the victim's entry and exit records, personal belongings, activities before leaving the country and living habits, hoping to find the victim through clues from various aspects," said Lau.

He said after contacting Thai police and the Chinese embassy in the Thai capital through Interpol, the victim's location was successfully pinned down and she was eventually found at a hotel in Bangkok 36 hours later.

Superintendent Theodora Lee Wai-see said that common tactics used by scammers are to require the victims to check in regularly, stay connected 24 hours a day, take nude photos or videos or go to remote areas.

Lee said the scammers also apply psychological pressure, making the victims believe they could be imprisoned or that their families could be affected.

"They will emphasize that the victims are over 18, they must handle the case alone and cannot tell their families - otherwise the families would be implicated," she said.

Lee reminded the public that anyone claiming to be a mainland law enforcement officer would likely be a scammer - also if they ask for a transfer to be made, or say it's a secret investigation that no one could know.

She said no law enforcement officer would cut off contact with their families for any reason.

marcus.lum@singtaonewscorp.com