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Leopold Chen

A mainland Chinese university student in Hong Kong has lost about HK$1 million (US$127,500) in a scam after a fraudster accused her of involvement in a criminal case and demanded “guarantees”.
Police said they received a report from a 19-year-old student at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) at 1.07am on Sunday.
The force said the victim had earlier received calls from someone posing as a government officer, accusing her of being involved in a criminal case on the mainland and demanding that she pay around HK$1 million in “guarantees”.
She made the payment but later realised she might have been deceived, prompting her to call police, the force added.
The case has been classified as deception.
HKUST said it was aware of the incident and had reached out to the student to offer support.
“The university provides counselling and other assistance to students in need. HKUST will continue to work closely with police and other stakeholders to raise students’ awareness and support those affected,” it said.
In the first three months of this year, 42 mainland students in Hong Kong fell victim to scams involving fraudsters posing as mainland authorities.
Police also found that the losses incurred by mainland students in telephone deception cases were 2.9 times higher than those of local students, averaging around HK$690,000 and HK$176,000, respectively.
Since last year, the force has run targeted anti-scam efforts for mainland students, including social media publicity, seminars and surveys.
Major universities in Hong Kong, including HKUST, have mandated anti-scam training for new students.


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Phone scammer accused her of being involved in criminal case and demanded ‘guarantees’ from her, Hong Kong police say


Phone scammer accused her of being involved in criminal case and demanded ‘guarantees’ from her, Hong Kong police say.


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Mainland Chinese HKUST student loses HK$1 million to scammer posing as official

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Phone scammer accused her of being involved in criminal case and demanded ‘guarantees’ from her, Hong Kong police say

Phone scammer accused her of being involved in criminal case and demanded ‘guarantees’ from her, Hong Kong police say