A retired Hong Kong woman who reported losing HK$7 million (US$896,000) in an online investment scam was one of 204 people tricked by sham trading schemes over the first 12 days of December. Police kept up their warnings for people to stay alert, with no sign of a let-up in online investment scams since October. The woman fell prey after seeing a Facebook post two months ago and was then coaxed by a bogus investment expert into downloading a fake trading app to invest. Her losses were the biggest reported this month. In less than two months, she made 26 transactions transferring HK$7 million into local bank accounts controlled by scammers, police said. She realised it was a scam when she tried to withdraw her funds but was blocked. Police described her case on the force’s CyberDefender Facebook page but did not reveal the total lost by victims from December 1 to 12. The force issued two similar Facebook alerts last month after receiving more than 110 reports of online investment scams in the last week of October involving losses of more than HK$100 million, and another 185 cases in the second week of November with losses exceeding HK$100 million too. Hong Kong police round up 1,200 people in crackdown on online, phone scams The number of online investment scams reported surged to an all-time high in the first 10 months of 2023, with losses from more than 4,000 cases hitting nearly HK$2.5 billion. The number of police reports leapt 160 per cent to 4,045 compared with 1,555 in the same period last year. Police made 4,190 arrests in connection with such scams over the past nine months and reported more than 6,860 suspicious pages and accounts to internet service providers for removal or blocking. Hong Kong recorded a 52.1 per cent increase in all types of deception, with 33,923 cases reported in the first 10 months of this year, with losses of HK$7.2 billion. The force has warned of a rise in sham chat groups where scammers impersonate stock commentators, celebrities, influencers and feng shui masters to lure victims onto bogus investment platforms to buy shares or cryptocurrencies. Police warned in July that swindlers impersonating investment experts had tricked victims into buying stocks they claimed were picked by artificial intelligence software. How to spot a scam? Hong Kong cybersecurity experts share possible ‘red flags’ The force advised people to use its Scameter search engine, accessible through the CyberDefender website, to check for fraudulent schemes. It has information to help users identify suspicious web addresses, emails, platform usernames, bank accounts and mobile phone numbers or IP addresses. Police advised people not to click on hyperlinks embedded in suspicious SMS messages, emails or web pages that connect to websites or download attachments. Those in doubt may also call the force’s anti-scam helpline on 18222.
Hong Kong retiree loses HK$7 million in online investment scam, as people keep falling for fraudsters’ tricks
