Impersonating Care Home Staff Cause Pecuniary Loss to Merchant over Purchase of Wheelchairs

2024-06-05

Defrauding Tricks

Recently, there are scammers impersonating staff of residential care homes for the elderly and calling a hairdresser (merchant) to ask for haircut service for the elderly at the care homes. They then lured the merchant to order electric wheelchairs from a fictitious supplier on their behalf using high commissions as bait. Meanwhile, the scammers would create fictitious transfer screenshots and make a transfer to the merchant’s bank account by a dishonoured or invalid cheque. The merchant mistakenly believed that the fictitious supplier had made a transfer, then paid it and suffered pecuniary loss.
 
 Our Advice

• When receiving a transfer, you should check if there is a rise in “available balance”. “Bank deposit slip” or increase in “ledger balance” do not indicate a successful transfer;

• Do not believe the scammers’ identities simply by the phone numbers they provide. You are advised to verify their identities by the public websites of relevant organisations;

• Enter the suspicious URL on “Scameter” or “Scameter+”, the mobile application of “Scameter”, to assess the risk of fraud and cyber security in addition to seeking verification from relevant organisations;

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

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