A total of 38 citizens were cheated of HK$12 million in “low interest loan” scams, according to Democratic Party.
The party received their requests for help in the second half of this year, saying they lost the amounts to scammers who claimed they could offer loans at low interest rates.
The party’s treasurer Ramon Yuen Hoi-man said the victims came to them between July and Tuesday, and the amount they lost ranged from HK$7,000 to HK$7 million.
The victims said they received cold-call from the fraudsters, saying they were bank staffers and can offer loans at low interest rate to the victims.
Some of the scammers could even spell the victims’ names or their identity card numbers, which made the victims believe they were genuine bank workers.
The call would then be transferred to other fraudsters claiming they were financial companies staffers, who would handle the “loan application.”
The fraudsters would also ask the victims to open accounts in their “companies” and transfer money into different banks, after telling them they would help make investments with guaranteed returns.
Some victims said they reported the scam to police but officers didn’t get back to them, according to Yuen.
Yuen urged police to take action as soon as possible and to freeze the assets of the fraudsters.
He pointed out that four companies are suspected to be involved…