Sundaymail Editor
A 90-year-old Hong Kong woman has been conned out of US$32 million by fraudsters posing as Chinese officials, in the city’s biggest recorded phone scam.
Hong Kong’s elderly are plagued by phone scammers who seek out vulnerable and wealthy victims willing to transfer money or make bogus investments.
Police on Tuesday said scammers targeted an elderly woman living in a mansion on The Peak, Hong Kong’s ritziest neighbourhood.
Last summer, criminals contacted the unnamed woman pretending to be Chinese public security officials.
They claimed her identity had been used in a serious criminal case in mainland China. She was told she needed to transfer money from her bank account into ones held by the investigation team for safekeeping and scrutiny, the South China Morning Post reported, citing police sources.
Police said several days later a person arrived at her house with a dedicated mobile phone and SIM card to communicate with the fake security agents who persuaded her to make a total of 11 bank transfers.
Over five months, the elderly lady gave a total of HK$250 million (US$32 million) to the scammers.
Police said the scam was only spotted because the elderly lady’s domestic helper thought something suspicious was happening and contacted her employer’s daughter, who then alerted officers.
After an investigation a 19-year-old was arrested for fraud and has been released on bail, police said.
The South China Morning Post reported that the arrested person is believed to have been the fraudster who turned up at the lady’s house with the phone.
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Husband sends uncropped photo of son’s birth
In the age of social media, being camera-ready can be the difference between likes and going viral for the wrong reasons.
No thanks to the likes of celebrities like the Kardashians, having a glam squad on standby seconds after popping out a baby is as normal as having milk with your coffee.
For a mom of three who goes by the username Wendy Freed on TikTok, the birth of her most recent child did not exactly go as planned.
She recalled the mortifying moment her husband shared a picture to a group chat after their son was born.
“Remembering when my husband sent pics to his whole family on a group text just after our son was born without cropping them,” she wrote.
Unbeknown to him, the uncropped picture showed her hospital gown still pulled up around her waist, with the rest of her naked body on display.
The post immediately went viral with almost 30k likes.
Freed chose to relive her horror by sharing the original picture, only this time with her private parts covered up with a smiley face.
Although the picture elicited some laughs, it also encouraged other mothers to share their embarrassing birth photo stories.
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Man asks ‘to go to hospital’ after Xmas prank
A woman shared a hilarious footage she captured of a prank she pulled on her boyfriend.
The video has been viewed almost seven million times.
In the video, the woman pulls a prank that leaves the husband confused that he asked her to take him to the hospital.
Mackenzie Lynn went to extreme lengths to convince her fiancé that it was Christmas Day just to “trip him out”.
She shared footage of Jake’s reaction to the thought-out prank on TikTok, where she’s known as @kenzielynnsmith.
Whilst he was sleeping, she decorated the entire house with festive ornaments – a Christmas tree with presents piled under it, stocking on the fireplace and a wreath on the door.
She even changed the date on his phone to say December 25.
When he finally woke up, she recorded his reaction, and it is safe to say he was beyond confused. Playing the part, she said: “I am worried about you,” as he reached for his phone, presumably to check the date.
But when he saw it, his face dropped.
A friend who was in on the prank later walks in, says ‘Merry Christmas’ and says he’s going to his mum’s for the holiday.
In the caption of her video, McKenzie claims he later asked her to take him to the hospital because he was so baffled.
Since being posted, the video has been liked more than two million times and has received 15 000 comments.
One person said: “His face. HE is so confused (sic).”
Another person said: “Please help this poor man.”
A third suggested: “You should have made him think it all day and let him go to bed thinking it’s December then put everything back to normal.”
And someone else put: “If someone did this to me I would check myself into a hospital within 30 minutes.” – Wires
Online Reporter