14 Million TWD Retirement Savings Vanish! Even Bank Executives Fall for Latest Scam Tactic

Even individuals with advanced financial expertise can become targets of fraud. A shocking job scam recently occurred in Hong Kong, where a retired senior banking executive browsing Instagram was lured by an advertisement promoting 'click-and-rate tasks for easy commission.' Within just two months, he fell victim to the scam and lost nearly 3.5 million Hong Kong dollars (approximately 14 million New Taiwan dollars).

According to local media outlet The Standard, this case is merely the tip of the iceberg. Hong Kong's Cyber Security Division revealed that in just the past week, nearly 30 identical job scam reports were filed, with total losses exceeding 8 million Hong Kong dollars (around 32 million New Taiwan dollars).

Retired Bank Executive Falls Victim: Instagram 'Hotel Rating' Side Job Scam Leads to 14 Million TWD Loss

Police investigations revealed that the victim encountered the ad on a social media platform. The scammer claimed, 'Earn generous rewards by helping travel agencies or booking platforms improve their online hotel ratings.' After the victim expressed interest, a self-proclaimed agent contacted him via WhatsApp and directed him to a professionally designed fake website to register an account.

Over the following two months, the fraud group demanded repeated transfers under the pretext that 'virtual account top-ups were required to accept tasks or unlock missions.' To avoid suspicion, the group initially transferred 50,000 Hong Kong dollars (about 200,000 TWD) back to the victim’s real bank account, creating the illusion that 'commissions were actually being earned.'

However, this money was actually just a portion of the victim’s own funds—'羊毛' (sheep’s wool), recycled back to him. Convinced by the apparent returns, the victim, manipulated by the scammers’ rhetoric, made over 70 transfers, dispersing funds into more than 20 completely unfamiliar personal bank accounts. Only when he could no longer withdraw funds and the scammers went silent did he finally realize his substantial retirement savings had completely vanished.

In response to the surge in fake job scams, authorities are warning the public: there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Any advertisement emphasizing 'easy work, no experience, work-from-home, high returns' is highly likely to be bait crafted by fraudsters. The public is urged not to click on suspicious links and absolutely refrain from transferring money to unrelated personal accounts.