Associated Incidents
Learning Japanese, playing golf and tasting red wine worth more than HK$100,000 (US$12,850) a bottle were among the topics of conversation prompts a scam syndicate taught recruits to help pass as rich, single women, Hong Kong police have revealed.
The chat-up strategies were among those recorded in notebooks seized by the force last week when officers arrested 31 people connected to a syndicate that used deepfake images of attractive women to lure victims into romance and investment scams.
Police said they had intercepted more than HK$34 million in scam proceeds as part of the operation.
"Syndicate members would teach new recruits how to approach victims and converse with them, such as getting to know the victim's occupation, education level, financial goals and cryptocurrency investments," Senior Michelle Inspector Fong Sze-wing of the commercial crime bureau said.
"They would also flaunt a wealthy lifestyle to fan the victim's desires and gain their trust that the scammer was living a decadent life."
Excerpts of notebooks seen by the Post revealed that youngsters eager to make fast money were recruited to convince victims living as far away as Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia that they were accomplished individuals with an eye for the finer things in life.
One entry outlined a list of bogus daily activities to "make the client think you're exceptional" by discussing hobbies to keep an online conversation going and reinforcing their fake status.
The entry detailed interests such as learning Japanese, playing golf, running, reading autobiographies of successful people and trending titles, as well as talking about buying assets or travel.
The notes included detailed conversational prompts and one-liners to help convince victims.
When discussing a passion for running, scammers were encouraged to say: "It's because I think a woman's greatest asset is self-discipline."
The syndicate wrote a playbook on how to dupe victims into believing scammers were accomplished women with a taste for the finer things in life. Photo: Handout
Another scenario outlined in the notes was pretending to be at a friend's watch store and using photos to sell the deception.
"Everyone deserves to buy such good things," the guide suggested recruits say when discussing "purchasing assets", with a column on the topic covering watches, real estate, handbags and cryptocurrencies.
Scammers were also instructed to weave the topic of getting to know cryptocurrency bigshots into any conversation about their fake hobbies.
"I didn't know anything about wine tasting before. But now as I spend more time with crypto bosses, I've slowly learned a bit of the basics, ha ha," the group encouraged scammers to say.
Under the topic of wine tasting in the notes, a member of the syndicate included details such as the 2007 and 2008 Domaine de La Romanee-Conti Grand Cru being better vintages.
The book also included a note stating both vintages were worth "more than HK$100,000 per bottle".
An entry on golf encouraged recruits to describe playing the sport as a chance to meet "bosses from different areas".
"Golfing also led to meeting bosses from different areas, it's not just as simple as becoming healthy, ha ha," the group wrote as a prompt.
Other documents seized by police included a script showing how to convince victims to part with US$150,000 in the hopes of future monetary rewards.
The first stage involves promising to put US$150,000 into the target's cryptocurrency account, before asking the victim to set aside US$150,000 of their own for a joint investment.
If the victim refused the offer, the group had a line ready to persuade them.
"Did you know I was willing to do this because you're an important person in my life? [Praise them for being unique]," the syndicate wrote in their notes.
Scammers were also advised to note down victims' working hours to identify appropriate times for chats, and share information about their targets' hobbies to feign interest and imply they were interested in a serious relationship if the victim became "motivated" and learned about investment.
All these steps were intended to "motivate" victims to invest in the scams.
The notes also laid out a timeline for how quickly relationships should develop, with weekly targets such as getting victims to transfer funds by the fourth week, or by the fifth conversation.
"The first conversation: getting to know you. The second conversation: let them know what you do for a living. The third conversation: let them know you are of value to them. The fourth conversation: imbue investment concepts [...] The fifth conversation: close the deal," the manual noted.
Senior Inspector Fong said officers also found post-it notes and other notebooks that included the scammers' personal goals after making off with their victims' money, such as garnering millions of Hong Kong dollars or buying expensive cars and watches.
One scammer wrote that they hoped to buy a Rolex worth HK$260,000, start their own business, have a car, pass a Japanese exam and save up HK$300,000 from "making calls for extra money".
"[I will] find one potential client every day, big ones, over US$100,000. [I will] chat happily with them, make calls often, reply often, making progress every day. Buy [coins]," the person wrote.