A spate of street scams targeting older men looking for love — or at least a reasonable facsimile — appears to have cropped up around town, with at least three such cases being reported in recent days.
In one case, a 96-year-old man (dang, old-timer!) was reportedly robbed of a ring valued at HK$3,000 yesterday by two women, aged between 35 and 47, who had approached him offering, ahem, massage services, HK01 reports. The two allegedly led him inside a building on Belcher’s Street, in Kennedy Town, and mugged him the stairwell.
On the same day, over in Aberdeen, an 82-year-old man reported that two women he had followed into an apartment — also for a “massage” — snatched his gold chain, pendant, and ring.
In both cases, no arrests have been made, and police are looking for the women in question.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the harbor, in Mong Kok, a 17-year-old girl from Hunan and a 40-year-old accomplice from Guangdong were arrested yesterday for allegedly stealing HK$4,000 in cash and a credit card several days prior from a 56-year-old man who had gone with the woman into a hostel for a — you guessed it! — massage. The man was reportedly in the shower when the pair allegedly made off with his money, Sing Tao reports.
According to a detective, the Kingland apartment block on Nathan Road in Mong Kok is a hotspot for such crimes. Police were able to capture the suspects after staking out the joint for several days, and identified them using CCTV footage.
The case has been classified as robbery.
The Sing Tao report adds that Chief Criminal Inspector Chou Ka Man of the Mong Kok Police District said that several cases of robbery by seduction had taken place in the area recently. In the cases, the female accomplices would typically seek out middle-aged or older men on the street, then lead them to a nearby hotel offering sex or a “massage,” only to quietly make off with their valuables while the victim was in the shower.
Read more Hong Kong coverage at Coconuts HK.
