A Yuen Long family has allegedly lost their entire life savings and their dream home after their daughters fell for a “catfish” from mainland China.
According to Apple Daily, a 24-year-old dessert chef surnamed Sin met a man called Thomas, who said he was a designer based in Yuen Long, on a dating site run by Chinese social networking platform Baidu a few months ago.
The pair soon began a relationship, and Sin said she fell in love with Thomas. At one point, Sin apparently told her boyfriend that her family had put a HKD1 million deposit down on a new home, but worried that they wouldn’t have enough money left to spend after the purchase.
Sin’s family currently lives in a village house with a corrugated metal exterior like this. Screenshot: Apple Daily
Thomas then mentioned that he had a wealthy aunt in mainland China who could help Sin’s family invest their remaining savings, which was being kept in their eldest daughter’s bank account.
After consulting with her sister, Sin reportedly made multiple transfers to Thomas’ bank account, which totalled over HKD1 million.
Thomas then apparently approached Sin’s elder sister and asked for the rest of the money – around HKD2 million – to make more investments. However, the sisters said he disappeared once he received the money.
Their 18-year-old brother soon realised that they had been tricked, and reported the case to the police yesterday morning. Sin’s mother, who has been working as a vegetable seller for 20 years, reportedly almost fainted when she heard the news.
“My parents were just trying to improve their situation,” Sin’s brother told Apple Daily. “Their kids were all grown up, and they thought they could finally use their savings to buy a home. But now it’s all lost because of this man’s scam.”
Police officers are investigating the case, which they are treating as fraud. No arrests have been made so far.
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