Jail for mystery customer fraud

The District Court ordered detention of five people engaged on the periphery of a mystery customer scam.

The five defendants had earlier pleaded guilty to fraud charges. The court heard that the mastermind, who is at large, placed advertisements in discussion forums, seeking to hire mystery customers. Victims were instructed to test services of financial companies by obtaining loans using their personal documents. The swindlers made off with the borrowed cash. Nine people, mostly university students, fell for the trick and lost HK$329,000 in total.

Deputy District Judge Sham Siu-min said the scheme caused great losses to young people with minimal earning ability. He also said it's not difficult to see through the scheme and the victims were naive despite their higher education.

Hangover drugs do not work

None of the hangover drugs on the market have proven effective in clinical tests, said the Practising Pharmacists Association of Hong Kong on Friday.

The main ingredients of the drugs that purportedly can relieve symptoms of alcohol consumption are vitamin and herbal medicines, the association said.

The association also warned that emergency contraceptives, also known as morning-after pills, are only 75 percent effective. And they have more side effects than regular birth control pills, including disruption of menstrual cycles and potential difficulty with future conception.

Oriental magpie H5N1-positive

The dead oriental magpie robin found in Tin Shui Wai on December 17 was confirmed to be H5N1-positive after a series of laboratory tests, said a spokesman for the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department on Friday.

The bird's carcass was found and collected at Ju Ching Chu Secondary School (Yuen Long), 5 Tin Wu Road, Tin Shui Wai, on December 17. Oriental magpie robin is a common resident bird in Hong Kong.

CE-elect office planned

The government will set up an office in Central Government Complex in Tamar for the Chief Executive-elect next March, to prepare for a smooth transfer of power, said Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Raymond Tam.

The new Chief Executive will be elected on March 25.

Tam stressed that the CE-elect will not have real power before he assumes the office.

Uptrend of fraudulent emails

Replying to unfamiliar e-mails could be dangerous, Commercial Crime Bureau reminded the public and commercial institutions, upon discovering an ascending trend of e-mail deception.

In the first three quarters this year, an increase of 305 commercial and technological crime cases were reported over the corresponding period last year. In total there were 1,552 cases, about 4 percent of the those "phishing e-mails".

China daily

(HK Edition 12/24/2011 page1)