The first and golden rule of crime is: don’t get caught. But apparently these guys didn’t get the memo, because they decided to try and scam the police. Of all people!
A mainland con artist was arrested yesterday after he and his accomplices attempted to scam three Hong Kong police officers out of HKD300,000.
The syndicate allegedly phoned the Kwun Tong Police Station three times yesterday and addressed three different officers with the lines: “This is your son. Help!” and “Your son has a debt problem. Pay money or he will be beaten”.
Chief Inspector Chung Chi-ming was first to receive the call at roughly 1pm, with one man pretending to be his son shouting for help in the background, while the other demanded money in return for not harming his “son”.
Chung was, however, left hanging, when he supposedly asked too many questions, causing the conmen to become suspicious. Apparently he knew the call was a scam from the beginning, which kind of figures, unless you can’t tell the difference between the voice of your own offspring and that of a mainland crook.
Assistant district crime commander Superintendent David Cameron (no, not that toff who runs the UK) was next in line for the ruse, but also threw the gang off with his broken Cantonese.
Last up was Senior Inspector Li Ka-yan, a seemingly incredible negotiator, who managed to reduce the ransom down to HKD100,000.
After arranging a face-to-face meeting at Hoi Yuen Road in Kwun Tong for the ransom showdown, a female sergeant posing as a distraught mother handed over an envelope stuffed with blank paper, after which the suspect was arrested.
The 23-year-old accused, who is currently in custody and being held for questioning, is believed to have arrived from Guangdong on Monday. The Kwun Tong district crime squad is investigating the situation and has not yet laid any charges.
Speaking to the SCMP, a police source said it was unlikely the scammers knew the numbers belonged to Kwun Tong Police Station, and that they probably used internet phone services to make random calls from the mainland.
A veteran police officer said this was the first time telephone scammers had called a police station, but said total losses from such scams increased between 2012 and 2013.
This could form the plot of a very amusing movie…
Photo: Wikipedia
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