Woman loses over HKD1.45 million in suspected online romance scam

A local middle-aged woman has reported losing more than HKD1.45 million in a suspected online romance scam, the Judiciary Police (PJ) said. The victim met a man on social media in August who claimed to be a mainland Chinese national living in Singapore. After developing a romantic relationship, he persuaded her to invest through a website. When she later tried to withdraw funds, she was asked to pay a HKD720,000 “deposit,” which led her to suspect fraud and file a report.