中国公安名乗る偽電話詐欺、９０歳女性３５億円被害　香港最高額

【香港ＡＦＰ＝時事】香港警察は２０日、９０歳の女性が中国公安職員を名乗る偽電話詐欺の被害に遭い、２億５０００万香港ドル（約３５億円）をだまし取られたと発表した。偽電話詐欺の被害額としては香港史上最高となる。（写真は資料写真）
　警察によると、被害に遭ったのは高級住宅地「ピーク」の豪邸に住む女性で、昨年夏に電話を受けた。詐欺師らは、中国本土で起きた重大事件で女性の個人情報が不正利用されたと説明したという。
　英字紙サウスチャイナ・モーニング・ポストが警察筋の話として報じたところによると、女性は保管・監視のため、銀行口座の預金を捜査班の口座に移す必要があると伝えられた。
　警察によると、数日後、偽の公安職員と連絡を取るための専用の携帯電話とＳＩＭカードを持った人物が女性宅を訪問。女性は計１１回、現金を振り込んだ。被害総額は５か月で２億５０００万香港ドルに上る。
　警察は、女性宅で働く家政婦が不審に思い、女性の娘に連絡し、娘が通報したことで事件が発覚したと話している。
　警察発表によると、１９歳の容疑者が逮捕・保釈された。サウスチャイナ・モーニング・ポストは、逮捕された人物は女性宅に携帯電話を持っていく係だったとみられると報じている。
　香港は世界で最も貧富の差が大きい地域の一つ。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/04/22-12:35）

A 90-year-old Hong Kong woman has been conned out of US$32million by fraudsters posing as Chinese officials, police said, 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 ($32 million) to the scammers, the largest sum recorded yet by a phone con.
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.
Wealthy Hong Kong is one of the most unequal places on earth.
It boasts one of the highest concentrations of billionaires, many of whom live in palatial homes overlooking densely packed districts where poor families might squeeze into an apartment the size of an American car parking space.
With such a high concentration of wealthy elderly residents, the city makes a ripe target for phone scammers, many of whom operate across the border in mainland China.
Police say such scams are on the rise.
Reports of phone scams rose 18 per cent in the first quarter of 2021 with fraudsters pocketing some HK$350 million over the period.
In 2020, police said they handled 1,193 phone scam cases where a total of HK$574 million was stolen.
Last year a 65-year-old woman was duped out of HK$68.9 million after a similar scheme where people posed as mainland security officials.