Unlike bitting into a mooncake, being deceived certainly leaves a bad taste in one’s mouth.
So beware this Mid Autumn festival, fraud is afoot.
Hongkongers have been urged to be cautious and look out for scams when buying mooncake coupons following reports of scams surrounding the traditional treats.
According to the NGO Community March, around eight people lost about HK$20,000 (US$2,500) after trying to buy coupons for Maxim’s lava custard mooncakes from an online seller.
The lava custard mooncakes are wildly popular in Hong Kong, with hundreds people lining up outside Maxim’s bakeries across the city in the last few months to get their hands on the coupons to redeem a box of the mooncakes.
And at least one person online is exploiting that popularity.
During a press conference today, Community March said that eight people individually paid between HK$200 to HK$4,400 (US$25 to US$561) to someone who advertised the coupons on an online marketplace called Carousell. One person reportedly paid HK$4,400 for 20 coupons on August 19.
After transferring the money to the seller’s bank account and waiting a week, the victims eventually contacted police when no coupons arrived.
