An 80-year-old Hong Kong woman has lost HK$9.1 million (US$1.2 million) to scammers, making her the biggest victim uncovered in a police crackdown on online fraud that has led to the arrest of more than 200 people amid an increase in technology-related crime. The force on Sunday said it had arrested 223 suspects during the week-long operation targeting scammers posing as investment consultants, and individuals selling their bank accounts to syndicates that then use them to launder money. The 157 men and 66 women, aged between 18 and 69, were arrested between November 5 and 11 on charges of deception, fraud and money laundering. Hong Kong police arrest 70 over online scams, selling bank accounts to criminals Chief Inspector Nicole Wu Hoi-ling from East Kowloon division’s technology and financial crime unit said police had seen a large jump in investment crimes since last year. The offences accounted for 60 per cent of the division’s total crimes in the first three quarters of this year, and often involved large sums of money. The 265 cases from the week-long crackdown involved 328 victims, aged between 19 and 80, and more than HK$180 million in losses. Wu said that while the victims came from different backgrounds, most were aged between 20 and 40 years old, participated in online forums and had reasonable finances. She added that most suspects were “stooge account” holders who had loaned their personal bank accounts to syndicates for money laundering, in exchange for hundreds or thousands of dollars. Inspector Law Kwan-kit of Tseung Kwan O district’s technology and financial crime squad said the syndicates created a fake trading platform to attract people looking for low-risk investments with high returns. “These scammers promote investments in cryptocurrency, mainland Chinese stocks, precious metals and foreign currencies to lure the victims,” he said. “They ask victims to install fake investment apps on their phones. These apps can show transactions and even have a fake customer support team to answer queries.” Albert Chow Ka-yun from Sau Mau Ping district’s technology and financial crime squad said the biggest case involved the 80-year-old retiree who lost HK$9.1 million. The woman, a flat owner, had chatted for four months online with a fraudster who was posing as a potential tenant. 2 arrested on suspicion of cheating Hong Kong elderly woman out of HK$3.3 million The scammer, who said he was an analyst at a bank, lured her to invest in cryptocurrency, telling the woman he had inside information and convinced her to transfer money to a bank account. Chow said a stooge account holder was arrested in connection with the case and more arrests were possible. The force urged the public not to lend or sell their bank accounts to others to make a quick profit, as they could face money-laundering charges even if they were unaware about the origin or use of funds. Money laundering in Hong Kong is punishable by up to 14 years’ jail and a HK$5 million fine. 51 arrested in Hong Kong crackdown on scams involving nearly HK$100 million Technology-related crimes surged nearly 50 per cent in the first half of the year, which the force attributed to the rise in online economic activity as the Covid-19 pandemic eased. The force recorded 15,637 such cases, involving HK$2.03 billion in financial losses, in the six-month period. Police also reminded the public to educate themselves about financial products and verify the authenticity of trading platforms before investing. In August, police arrested more than 450 people from syndicates involved in the laundering of HK$470 million in suspected illegal proceeds. Most of the illegal funds handled by the syndicates were linked to e-shopping fraud, sham investment deals, telephone deception, online romance swindles and job scams. Police handled 18,743 cases of money laundering between January and June this year, a 52 per cent jump from the 12,326 logged over the same period in 2022. Losses from the cases reached HK$2.7 billion, up 28 per cent from HK$2.1 billion recorded in the same period in 2022.
80-year-old Hong Kong woman loses HK$9.1 million to scammers, with police arresting more than 200 people in online fraud crackdown
