Hong Kong records over 36,000 fraud cases in first 10 months of 2024; rise in scams involving bogus gov’t officials
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong police recorded more than 36,000 fraud cases with over HK$7 billion in losses between January and October, including almost 900 involving swindlers posing as government officials. The force also received the first-ever report from a victim who was tricked into travelling abroad by scammers purporting to be authorities.
The city recorded 36,405 fraud cases in the first 10 months of 2024, according to a police press conference reported by local media. Scams involving bogus government officials rose by 93 cases to 874 compared to the same period last year, police said.
Around a third of the victims deceived by individuals posing as authorities were university students. Of these, around 70 per cent were mainland Chinese students.
In one case, a postgraduate student from Yunnan received calls from people who claimed to be police in mainland China. The scammers said two phone numbers and a bank account belonging to the student were suspected of being involved in money laundering.
The student was first asked to pay a “security deposit” of RMB$500,000 in Guangzhou. Upon returning to Hong Kong, the scammers told the victim that she had to travel to Thailand for her “personal safety” and instructed her to leave her mobile phone at home.
The perpetrators then contacted the student’s parents and asked them to pay HK$10 million ransom. The parents reported the case to Hong Kong police.
Police said they located the student in a hotel in Bangkok within 36 hours of receiving the report, with the assistance of Thai police and China’s embassy in the country.
Superintendent Theodora Lee of the Anti-Deception Coordination Centre said there were more scams involving university students in October, because it was around the time that secondary school graduates entered universities and began living in dormitories.
Some scammers told the victims that they would not be able to get school fees or living expenses if they refused to follow their instructions, Lee said.
Police reminded the public that mainland Chinese police would not call them, while law enforcement agencies would not ask people to transfer any money or require them to terminate contact with their family members.
According to official figures, the police recorded 3,212 phone scam cases in 2023, marking a 13.5 per cent increase from 2022. Last year’s cases involved some HK$1.1 billion in losses.
The continued upsurge came despite the implementation of a real-name SIM card registration system last February requiring users to register their full name, date of birth, and identity card to access telecommunications services in Hong Kong. Officials said it would reduce phone scams, though a mainland official later said it was a national security move.
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