Crime | Woman scammed over ‘moon cake’ order

A local woman, aged 34, has filed a complaint to the Judiciary Police (PJ) claiming to have been swindled in the amount of RMB19,000, the PJ spokesperson revealed this week.

The incident started earlier this year, when using the mobile phone app Wechat, when she met a man who claimed to work in a hotel in Hong Kong.

According to the victim, she said the suspect had posted an advert in July, stating that he was accepting orders for the special moon cake served at the hotel, offered at a special price.

The woman decided to make a purchase, transferring a total of RMB19,000 to the man that claimed to be the only person in charge of supplying such seasonal delicacy.

After a couple of weeks of waiting, the order was delayed and she contacted the man to ask about it. At the time, he said it was delayed due to typhoon-related issues, but as more time passed, the woman started to suspect that it was not the true reason.

After a heated discussion that allegedly involved other people and other WeChat accounts threatening her, she decided to file a complaint.

In a separate case reported by the same police force, a woman from mainland China claimed to have been deceived and robbed by a friend she met in a casino a day before.

The case occurred on September 17 when the victim, while playing at the tables with the suspect in a local casino, left her luggage under the suspect’s guard. After a short while, the suspect disappeared. Later, with the help of the landlord of an illegal lodge where she was staying, the victim found out that the HKD30,000 in cash and HKD100,000 in gaming chips were missing from her bag.