Police said on Tuesday that a 62-year-old man had been allegedly conned out of over HK$3.8 million by fraudsters posing as government officials.

They said the victim received a phone call in July from someone claiming to be someone from the Department of Health, and was told that he had violated quarantine rules in Guangzhou.

He received another call the same day from another swindler, saying he was involved in money laundering on the mainland.

The victim provided his bank details and later found that around HK$1.8 million had been withdrawn from his bank account.

In August, the man was scammed into handing over another HK$2 million “as a guarantee”.

It's understood that the victim is a university professor.

Police have classified the case as obtaining property by deception. No arrests have been made so far.