Beware of Loan Fraud

2020-05-20

Recently, fraudsters made cold calls to approach and defraud victims in the name of arranging loans. There are three defrauding tricks:

Fraudsters impersonated bank staff and claimed that their bank could loan money to the victim at a preferential rate. The application procedures for loans were simple and convenient, which did not require screening or submission of any documents. The victim only had to follow the staff’s instructions and deposit a sum of guarantee payment or handling fee into a designated mainland/local bank account and then the loans would be approved immediately. After the sum of money had been deposited, the staff could no longer be reached. The victim then reported the case to the Police and found that the staff was not an employee of the bank or the bank had not handled any loan application for the victim.

Fraudsters impersonated bank staff and claimed that they could apply for low-interest personal loans from licensed lending institutions on behalf of the victim. Fraudsters would schedule a meeting with the victim to elaborate relevant arrangements and persuade the victim to deposit a sum of money into a designated bank account as a proof of assets to open an investment account on the victim’s behalf. After the sum of money had been deposited into the said account, the staff could no longer be reached. The victim then reported the case to the Police and found that the staff was not an employee of the bank or the bank had not handled any loan application for the victim.

Fraudsters impersonated staff of intermediaries and claimed that they could refer the victim to apply for low-interest personal loans from licensed lending institutions or apply for a second mortgage on the victim’s premise(s). The victim only had to follow the staff’s instructions, apply for loans at designated financial institutions and deposit the sum into a designated bank account, the staff would repay the debt for the victim. After the sum of money had been deposited into the said account, the staff could no longer be reached. The victim then reported the case to the Police and found that the loans were never repaid, suffering double losses.