Scammers Impersonating Law Firm Staff Publishes Fraudulent Messages on Social Media

2023-08-07

Defrauding Tricks

Recently, scammers impersonating staff of a local law firm published fraudulent advertising messages on social media, claiming that they could provide legal services and help victims of deception cases recover their losses, with a WhatsApp link attached for enquiries. Deceived into believing it, victims contacted the scammers and were asked to provide personal information and details on how they were scammed. 

The scammers subsequently claimed that an investigation found that the defrauded money had been laundered through Macao’s gambling websites. They invited the victims to visit a fraudulent gambling website created by them, claiming that they could win back their money by placing bets on the website using “legal cyber attack techniques”. The scammers later repeatedly asked the victims to place more bets on the website to get their losses back as soon as possible. As a result, the victims fell prey to scam again and ended up suffering a double loss.

Our Advice

• Stay alert if you receive phone calls or messages purporting to be made or sent by law firm staff. You should verify their identities and search the law firm’s information such as phone number and address on the website of the Law Society of Hong Kong;

• Do not believe unknown callers or disclose your personal information, bank account number and password to them;

• Remind your relatives and friends to stay alert against deception;

• If in doubt, please call the “Anti-Scam Helpline 18222” for enquiries.