Mainland Woman Jailed Over 'blessing' Scam

A mainland woman was on Wednesday jailed for three years and six months after she admitted to cheating an elderly woman out of more than HK$60,000 in a so-called spiritual blessing scam.

The District Court heard that 54-year-old Qin Fengluan convinced the victim that her son needed "special blessings" to avert bad luck. She also told the victim that she needed valuable items to use in the blessing ritual.

The prosecution said Qin and two accomplices held the "ritual" and then spirited away the woman's goods.

Qin also pleaded guilty to illegal entry into Hong Kong.

Speaking after the hearing, police inspector Tse Siu-sum, from the Commercial Crime Bureau, said the number of such scams had been decreasing over the years, but appear to have been on the rise again since May last year.

Tse said there were only 25 cases in 2016, but this went up to 90 cases last year.