Telephone Deception by “Pretending Officials” with New M.O.
2022-04-06
Defrauding Tricks
In June 2021, a victim received a call purportedly made by an official of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government who alleged that the victim had violated mainland laws by publishing false information related to COVID-19 vaccines on the mainland. The victim successively had phone calls with three scammers impersonating mainland law enforcement officers, namely public security official, prosecutor and judge. She was told that a thorough investigation was required due to the severity of the case concerned.
The scammers subsequently sent the victim a false website link of People’s Procuratorate 156.226.83.98 and instructed her to click on the link to input her bank account numbers and passwords for background check and asset examination.
Pretending spies to give victim Android phones
During the course of event, a number of scammers claiming to be spies met the victim, gave her several Android phones and asked her to insert her SIM cards into the new phones. The phones had installed malicious Trojan Horse programmes which could intercept one-time password sent from banks to the victim. Therefore, the scammers were able to transfer the savings out of her accounts without the knowledge of the victim.
Forged documents to avoid suspicion from bank
The scammers repeatedly asked the victim to visit bank branches for large transfer. They prepared forged business contracts and told the victim to tell bank staff that the transfer is for business use in case they have any enquiries regarding the transfer.
It was not until the victim told her husband the whole thing in April this year that she realised she had been scammed. The victim then reported the case to police, with a loss amounting to over HK$60 million.
Our Advice
Even if the scammers are able to tell your personal information, send you their law enforcement credentials or warrants with your photo, it does not necessarily mean that they are genuine law enforcement officers. Scammers can obtain the personal information of the public through open access, security loopholes and even illegal sources;
Genuine law enforcement officers will not ask for your bank account number or password through phone calls in investigation of cases, or ask for guarantee money for asset test;
Do not disclose your personal information to strangers, including your HKID number, address, banking accounts and PIN codes;
Do not click on unknown hyperlinks or input any information;
Do not insert your SIM card into unknown phones.
Remind your relatives and friends to stay vigilant against deception;
If in doubt, please call the “Anti-Scam Helpline 18222” for advice.