HONG KONG - Hong Kong police said on Tuesday that they had recently cracked a telephone fraud case involving a 90-year-old woman defrauded of about HK$250 million (about US$32.2 million).

On March 25, the police arrested a 19-year-old man suspected to be involved in the case in Tin Shui Wai of the New Territories

This is the biggest ever single phone scam loss reported in Hong Kong, according to local media.

The victim received a phone call from a swindler who claimed to be an official in August last year. Then she made 11 transactions totaling about HK$250 million as instructed from August last year to January this year, according to the police.

READ MORE: HK police arrest 12, seize HK$900m over stock scam

The victim's daughter later realized that her mother had been cheated and reported it to the police.

On March 25, the police arrested a 19-year-old man suspected to be involved in the case in Tin Shui Wai of the New Territories.

The police said that the case is still under investigation and they did not rule out that more people will be arrested.

The number of telephone fraud cases in Hong Kong increased from 648 in 2019 to 1,193 in 2020, an increase of more than 80 percent. Over the same period, losses in the cases rose from about HK$150 million to HK$570 million. 

ALSO READ: HK crime rate up 25% in first 8 months, fraud cases double