An enthusiastic taxi driver was on the way to pick up a passenger. He heard the phone call from the passenger and realized that the passenger was a phone scammer.
The driver acted decisively and called the police immediately.
Two scammers with a triad background were arrested by the police who rushed to the scene, and the stolen goods were recovered, successfully preventing a deception from happening.
Police believe the "Guess Who" phone scam is an emerging source of income for the triads.
Chief Inspector Lu Yewei of the Criminal Deployment of Sau Mau Ping Police District explained the circumstances of the case. On December 7, the police received a report from an 81-year-old mother-in-law in Tuen Mun that she was involved in a "guess who I am" phone scam.
The scammer pretended to be his grandson and falsely claimed that he needed a bail because he was arrested by the police.
The victim is not afraid of fraud, and writes down the phone number of the scammer according to the instructions, and then boards the taxi to pay the "bail money". Payment place.
In the end, the mother-in-law was taken to a bus stop on Zhenhua Road, Sau Mau Ping, and handed over 7,000 yuan in cash to two scammers.
The scammers did not expect that the scam was discovered by another taxi driver.
The driver had earlier picked up one of the suspects at Ngau Tau Kok MTR Station to Chun Wah Road.
During the drive, the suspect talked on the phone with his accomplices, and he suspected that he had talked about the content of the crime.
The taxi driver became suspicious when he heard it, and did not leave immediately after "dropping off the passenger". Instead, he continued to follow the scammer surnamed Lei (49 years old). After witnessing the entire delivery process, he called the police for help.
The police arrived quickly after receiving the report and arrested Lei Nan and another local man surnamed Lin (39 years old) on the scene. They were suspected of the crime of "obtaining property by deception". All the stolen money was seized from one of them, and five cell phone.
The two arrested men have been released on bail pending further investigation and must report to the police in early January next year.
The case was handed over to the Anti-Triad Action Group of the Sau Mau Ping Police District for follow-up.
After a preliminary investigation, the police found that the criminal gang involved had a triad background and had a clear division of labor. They were responsible for delivery, "watching water" and calling the victim by pretending to be relatives.
Based on recent crime trends, the police believe it is an emerging source of income for the triads.
The police will continue to track down the mastermind and criminal syndicate behind the scenes.
The police added that the scammers specifically targeted the elderly, asking the victims to take a taxi to the delivery location, and handing over the mobile phone to the taxi driver directly after getting on the bus, and the scammers would explain the destination to the driver, so that the victim would find out after being cheated. , It is difficult to recall the exact delivery location to the police.
The police urged taxi drivers to be more vigilant if they encounter the above situation.