Hong Kong woman, 81, loses heart and $5 million to scammer posing as PLA officer

News Snapshot:

An 81-year-old woman in Hong Kong has lost more than HK$5 million after falling victim to an elaborate online romance scam involving a fraudster who posed as a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) officer from mainland China. In a post on its CyberDefender social media page on Monday, police said the woman received a WhatsApp message from a man who claimed to be a PLA officer and invited her to visit a military camp. They quickly built an online romantic relationship through frequent affectionate messages. The scammer later said he wanted to leave the military and start a business, asking the...