90-year-old woman loses $32 million in phone scam

Hong Kong - 19-year-old was arrested for the fraud and has been released on bail.

A 90-year-old Hong Kong woman has been conned out of $32million (Dh117 million) by fraudsters posing as officials, police said, in the city's biggest recorded phone scam.

Elderly in Hong Kong 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 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.