Burst
Written by: Lu Jiayu, Lin Zhenhua
2021-03-16 20:01
Last update date: 2021-03-16 20:07
A scammer was suspected of pretending to be a buyer to buy brand-name handbags on online trading platforms such as Carosell and Facebook, and handed over a briefcase containing papers and notebooks to the victim during the settlement, falsely claiming to be cash to the victim, when the goods were obtained They fled immediately, and the four lost nearly 140,000 yuan.
The police pretended to be a seller and arrested a 29-year-old man who was involved in the case yesterday.
The police recovered part of the lost property and seized cash, briefcases and other exhibits.
(Photo by Lin Zhenhua)
The Senior Inspector of the New Territories South Region Crime Squad, Leung Wai-yee, said that the police received a number of online fraud cases from February to March this year and found that four of them had the same tactics, pretending to be buyers, and contacted them through online trading platforms such as Carosell and Facebook. The victim expressed his interest in buying designer handbags and met the victim to deliver the money and goods. When the scammer received the victim’s goods, he gave a briefcase containing cash to the victim and fled in a hurry. The victim should open it. The owner of the briefcase found that the contents of the briefcase were only paper, journals, etc. The four cases involved a total loss of approximately HK$140,000.
After the Criminal Division of the New Territories South Region took over the investigation, it was discovered on March 13 this year that another suspicious person had contacted the victim on an online platform, saying that he wanted to settle the purchase of designer handbags. The police took action yesterday (15th) at 2 pm Send police officers to pretend to be sellers and meet each other in Tianxin District for settlement.
When a male suspect used the same method to hand the briefcase to the police officer, the police officer immediately stopped him and arrested him. He is being detained for investigation on suspicion of "obtaining property by deception."
Leung Wai-yee pointed out that suspects would use different accounts to contact victims to avoid revealing their identity, and most of them chose to conduct transactions at MTR stations.
The 29-year-old man who was arrested, surnamed He, reported as a construction worker. It is understood that the man used multiple layers of tape to seal the mouth of the citizen's bag, making it difficult for the victim to open the bag for inspection and flee by the opportunity.
The police also recovered part of the lost property in Yuen Long District today. The police are investigating whether the man was involved in other cases and where the other lost property went.
Liang Huiyi reminded the public to be careful when conducting online trading. They should confirm on the spot whether the payment is proper or not, and terminate the transaction if it is found to be suspicious.
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