Burst
Written by: Yang Wanting and Chen Haoran
2021-03-15 19:30
The last update date: 2021-03-15 22:49
The police smashed online romance and investment scams and arrested 14 people, including a 15-year-old male student.
The scam group used the dating app to get to know the victim. After developing into a couple, they tricked each other into using a fake investment app designed by the scammer. The victim did not want to defraud. After the victim remitted the funds to the bank account provided by the scammer, the scammer absconded with money.
Police investigation found that 9 people were deceived, involving 1.84 million yuan.
At the same time, fraud groups use "quick money" online to lure account holders to provide bank accounts for money laundering, including receiving fraudulent funds from online love scams.
The account holders were confined in the hotel room, eating three meals a day in the room, and were not allowed to leave until the fraud and money laundering process was completed. The total amount of money laundering reached 12 million yuan.
The Criminal Division of the Shatin Police District conducted an in-depth investigation and analysis of the criminal tactics of fraudsters in the district. It identified an organized fraud and money laundering syndicate and searched a total of 17 homes and residences in multiple districts across Hong Kong from March 12 to 14 this year. In the hotel room, 14 people were arrested, 11 males and 3 females, including 7 key members of the fraud syndicate and 7 account holders, aged between 15 and 42 years old, some of them have triad background; among them, they were arrested at the age of 15 The person is a male student and a key member of the group. He also has a background in a triad society.
The arrested persons were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud, money laundering and illegal imprisonment.
All arrested men and women have been released on bail pending further investigation and must report to the police in late March.
The police believe that they have successfully dismantled an organized criminal group and will continue to investigate the case. It does not rule out that more people will be arrested in the future.
During the operation, the police seized a large number of exhibits, including cash, bank cards, computers, mobile phones, and clothing worn by the suspect when committing the crime.
The police have successfully detected 9 fraud cases involving 9 victims, aged between 28 and 62.
The initial calculation involved a sum of 1.84 million Hong Kong dollars. One of the victims lost 630,000 yuan. The police did not rule out that the case involved more victims.
Provide account laundering and earn thousands of dollars per day
The police investigation revealed that a large-scale fraud group used quick money as a trick to solicit citizens to open bank accounts and open online banking services on different social platforms, and then lease the accounts to fraud groups for money laundering purposes.
Fraudsters will arrange account holders to stay in a number of different hotels, where they need to stay overnight.
Participants earn about 1,000 to 2,000 yuan a day.
In addition, the fraudulent syndicate will send someone to guard the account holders and ask them to hand over their mobile phones, bank cards and account passwords to ensure that they cannot contact the outside world or operate their bank accounts in any way.
In the meantime, they were not allowed to leave the hotel, and all three meals a day had to be eaten in the room, relying on fraudsters to provide takeaway.
The fraudsters will use the relevant bank account to collect the fraudulent funds, use the victim's password to log in to online banking, and use his mobile phone to receive the bank verification code to transfer the fraudulent funds.
After the fraud and money laundering process is completed, the account holder will be allowed to leave.
Fraudsters also use online platforms or mobile apps, including dating apps.
The scammers take the initiative to get to know the victims, gain the trust of the victims by means of online love, and introduce them to high-return investment solutions, requiring them to download unknown mobile apps to invest, and enticing them to remit large sums of money The account provided by the fraudster.
When the victim wants to withdraw funds from the account, the scammer will use different excuses to evade it. When the victim makes further enquiries, the scammer will not know what to do.
Hotel practitioners lose 630,000 yuan in a scam playing dating app
The largest loss amounted to RMB 630,000. The victim in this case was a 36-year-old woman who worked as a hotel operator. She met the male scammer through dating software, and the two parties immediately developed into a romantic relationship. The scammer introduced investment plans, and the female scammer introduced investment plans. The victim downloaded an unknown mobile application.
The female victim remitted money to the bank account four times, that is, the fraudster solicited the bank account provided by the account holder.
After investigation by the police, the fraud group started operating in January this year and discovered that there were 9 bank accounts involved in the case, all of which had frequent fund inflow and outflow records. The amount of black money involved in a single month has reached 12 million Hong Kong dollars.
The police appealed to the public not to assist others in handling money from unknown sources in their own name or lending out their accounts for remuneration or for any reason, otherwise they may commit the crime of "money laundering".
According to section 25 of the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance, Chapter 455 of the Laws of Hong Kong, the handling of property known or believed to represent the proceeds of an indictable crime (commonly known as "money laundering") is a serious crime. Once convicted, the maximum penalty Imprisonment for 14 years and a fine of 5 million yuan.
The police reiterated that conspiracy to defraud is a serious crime. Once convicted, the maximum sentence is 14 years in prison. The public should not try the law.
If members of the public have any doubts, they can call the 24-hour hotline 18222 of the Police Anti-Fraud Coordination Center for enquiries.
Illegal imprisonment of money laundering fraud