- A middle-aged Hong Kong engineer lost more than HK$8.5M to a romance scam that began on a dating app, The Standard reported.
- Police received at least 18 online romance scam reports in the past week, with losses exceeding HK$13M.
- The money went to 17 bank accounts designated by the scammers within about half a month.
- No source names the dating app.
Hong Kong police say a middle-aged engineer lost more than HK$8.5M to a romance scam that started on a dating app, The Standard reported on 27 October. According to the paper, police published the case on their CyberDefender anti-scam page on Monday 26 October, and said they had received at least 18 online romance scam reports in the past week, with total losses exceeding HK$13M.
The dating angle is indirect: the app is not named, and the sources do not say how many of the 18 cases began on dating platforms. Operators should still read the pattern.
The DII Take
The platform's role here ends at the introduction. The conversation moved to WhatsApp and the money moved through bank accounts, which is why trust and safety teams get little signal once a match leaves the app. This case shows how much damage can follow that handover in about half a month.
How the scam ran
The Standard reported that the engineer met a woman claiming to be a dancer at a private club in Taiwan, then chatted frequently with her on WhatsApp. A scammer posing as her 'manager' pressed him to pay for 'popularity votes' for a dance exam, club membership fees, asset checks and meeting arrangements, saying he would otherwise not be allowed to meet her.
The engineer transferred more than HK$8.5M to 17 bank accounts designated by the scammers.
The engineer transferred more than HK$8.5M to 17 bank accounts designated by the scammers.
He realised it was a scam when he had no money left for an extra 'administrative fee' and the scammers stopped replying, according to the report.
Weekly tallies and what to watch
Dim Sum Daily reported on 29 September that police had received at least 18 reports in a week, with losses approaching HK$7.8M. The same case count now comes with losses above HK$13M. The Block reported 25 romance-linked scams between 24 and 30 July, with losses of nearly HK$70M.
China Daily Hong Kong reported police saying compensated-dating scams are falling, from 1,055 cases in the first half of 2024 to 426 in the first half of 2026. Watch whether the weekly romance tallies follow.
- Hong Kong police tallies show weekly romance scam losses vary widely at similar case counts: at least 18 cases came with losses approaching HK$7.8M in September and above HK$13M in October.
- Dating operators are exposed to scams that begin on their platforms but are completed off-platform, though the app in this case is unnamed.
Sources: Engineer loses $8.5m in online romance scam involving fake Taiwanese dancer (The Standard); Hong Kong engineer loses more than HK$8.5 million in romance scam after dating app contact (Dim Sum Daily); Police report 18 online romance scams in past week with losses nearing HK$7.8 million (Dim Sum Daily); Hong Kong police flag $3.3 million romance scam involving fake crypto app (The Block); HK police arrests 8 over 'compensated dating' scam (China Daily Hong Kong)