Hong Kong woman tricked into marrying total stranger during job interview

Woman required to sign wedding certificate and act out role of bride in ceremony

The woman, who remains anonymous, was duped into marrying a stranger from mainland China (JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/Getty Images)

A 21-year-old Hong Kong woman has been duped into marrying a stranger from mainland China during a job interview.

The victim, who remains anonymous, told journalists she applied for makeup artist apprenticeship in May, but was later persuaded to apply for wedding planning job instead.

As part of her application, she was required to sign a marriage certificate and act out the role of a bride in a supposedly fake ceremony with a man from mainland China, she said.

When she realised the marriage was real, she approached the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU), who said they believed she was one of many victims of the scam, but declined to say whether the sham marriage was designed to allow her "husband" to relocate to Hong Kong.

The woman – who wore a face mask, cap, sunglasses and hooded jacket to obscure her identity – told a news conference she initially responded to a makeup artist job advert posted on Facebook overing a salary of HK$14,000 (£1,386), but was convinced to apply for a wedding planner job after the scammers told her the pay could could be higher, the South China Morning Post reported.

She then attended a training course, followed by an exam consisting of a supposed mock marriage.

But she and the stranger signed a document at a local government office and were officially married. The scammers told the victim they knew the mayor and would void the marriage afterwards.

Director of the FTU’s rights and benefits committee Tong Kang-yiu said: “We hope that by sharing this case, those who haven’t realised they were scammed will be aware.

“We need to give the police more pressure to take this problem seriously.”

Mainland residents with a spouse in Hong Kong can apply for a permit to settle in the city, which has a high degree of autonomy from the Chinese government.

Hong Kong police record around 1,000 cross-border marriage scam cases per year.