Hong Kong police have arrested a 19-year-old university student accused of swindling more than HK$3 million (12.5 million baht) from a man after apparently being hoodwinked by scammers herself.
Inspector Wu Kwan-yu of Tseung Kwan O police district's intelligence section said on Wednesday that officers arrested the female student the previous day on suspicion of impersonating mainland Chinese public security officials and swindling more than HK$3 million from a local man.
"Police urge youngsters to stay vigilant and avoid falling into scams. They should avoid being exploited or recruited by criminals due to their greed or misplaced trust," Wu said.
According to a source, the student said scammers had called her and accused her of being involved in money-laundering operations on the mainland and demanded that she follow their instructions to prove her innocence.
"The arrestee later received instructions from the scammers to head to a hotel in Tseung Kwan O and hand over a non-disclosure agreement to the victim," the source said, referring to a local man.
Whether the student had profited from or lost money during her encounters with other scammers remained under investigation.
"The phone line was then transferred to a scammer impersonating a mainland public security official," Wu said.
"The scammer claimed that the victim needed to follow his instructions to prove his innocence and demanded that he not disclose his whereabouts."
The scammer told the man an "agent" would meet him later. The man then booked a hotel room in Tseung Kwan O and met the student. Outside the hotel, she told him that she was an investigative agent.
The man signed a document stamped with a fake chop and was later ordered to transfer more than HK$3 million.
Police arrested the student in Sheung Wan on Tuesday after reviewing large volumes of surveillance footage.
At her home, officers found a fake identity document for a mainland law enforcement official, a printer suspected of having been used to produce fraudulent documents and clothes the student had worn when meeting the man.
Under Hong Kong law, obtaining property by deception carries a maximum sentence of 10 years' imprisonment upon conviction.
The student remained in police custody as of Wednesday afternoon.
