Latest Scam: Woman Left with HK$80K Restaurant Bill

The "date" was at Man Wah in the Mandarin Oriental

Women in Hong Kong have another thing to worry about when going on dates -- their suitor may leave them on the hook for a very expensive meal.

In the case of one woman, she was left to pay the restaurant bill of over HK$80,000 (US$10,264) at the Chinese restaurant Man Wah in the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong when her date claimed towards the end of the meal that he had to go to the washroom and never came back.

Really expensive champagne

Why was it so expensive? They had ordered the set meal of HK$2,388 each, featuring dishes like braised bird's nest, abalone, M9 wagyu, and steamed grouper.

But then the man, purporting to be a 26-year-old lawyer, chose a HK$71,800 bottle of Krug Clos d'Ambonnay champagne. The total cost of the mean was HK$84,453.

The woman had met the man on the Telegram messaging app a year ago and they arranged the date on Thursday at Man Wah.

When he didn't come back from the washroom, she called him several times but was not able to reach him and she had to ask friends to help her foot the massive bill and eventually filed a police report the next day.

The police arrested a 23-year-old man surnamed Wong in Tseung Kwan O for allegedly obtaining property by deception on Friday and seized the clothes he had worn the night of the date.

He's not the only guy who has done this version of "dine-and-dash" -- last month the police arrested a 29-year-old man who allegedly impersonated a firefighter on dating apps and apparently tricked three women into paying for lavish meals totalling HK$3,800 before running off.

But this latest scam of picking probably the most expensive bottle on the wine list is absolutely outrageous!

Poilievre Wants to Stop Scams on Seniors... But Can He?

Poilievre wants to protect Canadian seniors from scammers

Less than two weeks to go before the federal election on April 28 and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has pitched the idea of preventing seniors from being scammed by passing the "Stop scamming seniors act", forcing banks and telecom companies to use state of the art technology to detect scams.

Not only that, there will also be automatic blocking of seniors' accounts when there are suspicious transactions, and a 24-hour hold on high-risk transactions for seniors. There would also be active reporting to the public of how many scams have been stopped, while those who are convicted of these scams would be sentenced to at least one year, and up to five years in jail.

While these proposals are well-meaning, how would it all work?

Poilievre doesn't seem to understand that many scams don't originate from Canada but abroad and the nefarious ways they can "mistakenly" text someone and strike up a conversation and soon becomes a trusted friend. 

It's after months of daily contact that the scammer eventually begins the extraction of money for "investment", and by that point the victim is so driven by the dreams of becoming wealthy that they will do whatever it takes to transfer the funds to the scammer.

Some of these conversations aren't even in English or French. How to stop these scams in other languages?

And what if a senior is legitimately trying to purchase a big ticket item? They need to wait 24 hours before they can make the transaction? It makes them feel like children.

In addition, it would be so hard for banks and telecom companies to detect scams -- while there are some bank tellers who are alert and flag customers who come in asking to transfer large amounts of money with strange requests, a lot of funds are transferred through setting up crypto accounts or online transfers. 

We could do with fewer spam calls and texts, but it's harder to crack down on scammers than Poilievre thinks and to educate seniors to be on alert...

Bangkok: Chinese Scared of Traveling to Thailand

After Wang's release, he said he hoped to return to Thailand

In Bangkok there was a lot of chatter about how a lot of mainland Chinese tourists are not going to Thailand because of fears of being abducted and taken to scam centres near the border with Myanmar. 

Victims are lured to Thailand by promises of jobs, like the Chinese actor Wang Xing, who thought he was being casted by a major entertainment company. But once they arrive, they are whisked to these scam centres where they are forced to find victims through Whatsapp and other digital platforms and try to scam as much money from them as possible.

15.6 percent drop in Chinese tourists to Thailand

When Wang's situation and eventual release came to light, the Chinese government warned its citizens about the perils of traveling to Thailand, which led to a drop of about 15.6 percent of Chinese tourists in January.

But these warnings are not new -- as far back as 2022 there were rumours that going to Thailand would result in people getting trafficked to Myanmar and losing their kidneys. A year later the blockbuster No More Bets was a fictional account of Chinese tourists forced to work in scam centres.

Nevertheless Wang's story has resulted in lots of Chinese cancelling trips to Thailand and going instead to Japan and Malaysia. 

This is frustrating for Thailand, as it depends on Chinese tourists to help the country recover from Covid. In 2024, more than 6.2 million tourists to Thailand were from China, followed by Malaysians at 4.5 million and Indians at 1.9 million.

Although the Thai government has tried to reassure Chinese tourists that the country is safe to travel, around 10,000 trips from China were cancelled during the Lunar New Year.

After such a negative story about being lured to scam centres, it's not easy to get these millions of Chinese tourists to reconsider traveling to Thailand. 

Scam centres along the Thai-Myanmar border

But perhaps some common sense would help -- stick to touristy spots and avoid wandering in dodgy areas, advice that is universal for all places you are not familiar with.

One expat pointed out he finds Bangkok and Thailand very safe, and doesn't understand how Chinese people could be so easily spooked; but incessant coverage in state media has led them to believe Thailand is a dangerous place without doing research or critical thinking.

However, Beijing may have an ulterior motive to keep its citizens from traveling in general -- to boost the domestic economy by spending at home.

Interestingly most of these scam centres are run by Chinese gangs, though Beijing now has to step in to clamp down on these illegal operations. 

While these scam centres may not be entirely eliminated, the Thai and Chinese governments need to show they are shutting these places down, otherwise the number of Chinese tourists coming to Thailand will slow to a tiny trickle.

Kidnapped Actor Reveals Shady Scam Centres in Myanmar

Wang (right) was rescued from Myanmar on January 7

The disappearance and subsequent rescue of a Chinese actor has shone a spotlight on the shady scam centres that have proliferated along the Thai-Myanmar border.

Wang Xing, 22, went to Thailand on January 3 on the promise of film work, but was driven 500km to a scam centre in Mae Sot, where his head was shaved and was trained to make scam calls, also known as "pig-butchering scams" to persuade victims to part with a lot of their money through text messages.

After not hearing from him for days, Wang's girlfriend went online begging for help, and after it was reposted by some famous Chinese actors, the Chinese authorities stepped in, and Wang was rescued on January 7. He returned to China on January 10, but not before thanking the Chinese and Thai authorities, but said nothing about how he was rescued.

He was held in a scam centre like this one

His swift return is not like the thousands of other people who were also lured to Thailand with promises of work, but were then swiftly kidnapped and taken across the border to places like Myanmar and Cambodia where they have been forced to scam people around the world, around the clock. 

There have been stories from former "prisoners" that if they don't perform these scams they are physically beaten and given little food, and it's near impossible to escape these camps. Only a handful of people have managed to escape and lived to tell their horrific experiences.

When news broke of Wang's rescue and return, families of other Chinese nationals started a petition to have the authorities also rescue their loved ones. Initially there were 174 cases, and now there are more than 600.

"We are desperate to know if the remaining Chinese nationals [who were] with him have been rescued," wrote one commenter on Weibo. "Other people's lives are also lives."

Wang had said there were about 50 other people who were held together with him.

Wang thought he had film work in Thailand

However, Beijing has not said whether it will follow up on these other cases, while the Thai government is keen to reassure Chinese tourists that Thailand is safe, as it relies heavily on visitors from China.

Wang is extremely lucky to have a persistent girlfriend, and for the internet community to clamour for the Chinese authorities to do something. But what about the rest of these people from China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore who are essentially imprisoned and forced to scam innocent victims? 

It is believed these scam centres that get victims' money from cryptocurrencies and money transfers are run by Chinese syndicates, so why doesn't Beijing want to crack down on them? Surely it wants to protect its own citizens, who believed a job overseas could bring in money when they couldn't find work in China?

There are more questions than answers, but in the meantime Wang's harrowing story serves not only as a warning to others, but also helps bring more attention to scam centres in Southeast Asia and how they trick people into handing over millions of dollars.

HK Police Warn of Whatsapp Scams

Scammers use Whatsapp to get people to send money

One would have thought by now people would be more wary about scams -- especially in Hong Kong -- but there's a new sucker every minute.

More than 130 people were victims of a scam in one week and lost a total of HK$1.7 million (US$217,300). 

The scam involved fraudsters hijacking Whatsapp accounts, getting into their contact lists and duping people by sending messages posing as friends or relatives who urgently needed money due to emergencies.

The victims were asked to send money as soon as possible, but when they spoke to the real account holders, they found out they were scammed because they had already sent over the money.

It all starts by swindlers sending phishing text messages that are linked to fake websites and manage to trick users into giving their account verification codes.

"If you receive a text message asking for money or a bank transfer request from friends or relatives, please remember to call and confirm first," Hong Kong police said.

According to police figures on the theft of online accounts, 3,434 were reported last year, compared to only 168 in 2022. Most of the cases involved Whatsapp accounts.

Financial losses in these scams totalled HK$87.6 million in 2023, compared to HK$73.8 million the year before.

However in terms of total scams, Hong Kong recorded a 42.6 percent increase to 39,824 cases last year, from 27,923 reports the year before. The total amount lost rose by a staggering 89 percent to HK$9.1 billion in 2023, compared to HK$4.8 billion the year before.

When you get a strange message, stop and think carefully. Better yet, call the friend or relative in question first to see if they really are in trouble.

Fraudsters need to earn less money and more jail time!