Hong Kong teens held over swindling elderly woman out of HK$50,000 in phone scam

Hong Kong police have arrested a 16-year-old girl and an 18-year-old man in connection with a phone scam that swindled an 85-year-old woman out of HK$50,000 (US$6,369) by pretending to be her daughter and falsely claiming to require bail money.

The force said on Sunday that the victim reported the incident on Friday. After receiving a call from someone posing as her daughter in police custody, the elderly woman followed instructions and handed over HK$50,000 in cash to a man at a pre-arranged location.

She only realised she had been scammed after contacting her real daughter and subsequently reported the incident to the police.

Later the same day, the fraudsters contacted the victim again, demanding more “bail money”. The duo were arrested on Chai Wan Road at around 5.30pm. The case has been taken over by the Eastern District Police District Crime Investigation Team.

Both individuals were provisionally charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud and are scheduled to appear in Eastern Court on Monday morning, the force said.

In Hong Kong, conspiracy to defraud carries a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment.

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Hong Kong teens held over swindling elderly woman out of HK$50,000 in phone scam

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