Hong Kong woman claims she was tricked into sham marriage

A Hong Kong woman alleges she was tricked into marrying a man in mainland China.

A Hong Kong woman has claimed she was duped into marrying a stranger during a job offer scam in mainland China.

The 21-year-old who has not been named said she had been asked to participate in a mock marriage ceremony as part of training course to become a wedding planner.

However, during the ceremony, in Fuzhou, Fujian, she and the man, who was a similar age, signed a genuine marriage document and were officially married, the Daily Telegraph reports.

The alleged scammers had told the woman that there would be no problem because they knew the mayor, reported the South China Morning Post.

"They said they would void [the marriage record] afterwards," she said. She only realised that she was actually married when she returned to Hong Kong and sought legal help, but the police were unable to step in due to lack of evidence. Instead the woman turned to the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU).

Tong Kang-yiu, director of the FTU's rights and benefits committee, told the SCMP that the woman may be just one of many victims of a larger racket.

"We hope that by sharing this case, those who haven't realised they were scammed will be aware," Tong said. "The police failed to handle the case instantly. We need to give the police more pressure to take this problem seriously," he said.

"We handed the case to the police for investigation. We are still waiting for advice from lawyers for further action."

The motives behind the case are not yet known. However, mainland residents with a spouse in Hong Kong can apply for a one-way permit to settle in the city.

The young woman told reporters that she had wanted to work in the beauty industry and had first been lured by an advert for a make-up artist job on Facebook which offered free training and did not require previous work experience.

When she applied for the job she was told that she could earn more money as a wedding planner but that she would be required to play the role of a bride and sign a marriage certificate as part of the qualification procedure.

A friend later convinced her that she had become a victim of a scam and she sought help. There was no money involved. "My biggest loss was having a marriage record," she said.