Internet fraudsters cheated Hong Kong consumers out of about HK$350 million (US$44.8 million) through online shopping scams between January and November 2025, while the number of such cases grew by 8 per cent year on year.
Police also said that about 63 per cent of cases over the period involved bogus concert ticket sales, while another 9 per cent were related to fake sales of electronic goods.
According to figures released on Friday, 11,449 online shopping scams were reported in the first 11 months of last year, up from 10,576 for the same period in 2024 and 8,332 in 2023.
Total losses in 2025 for such cases reached about HK$350 million, matching the figure for the same period the previous year. In comparison, losses stood at around HK$170 million between January and November 2023.
Superintendent Cheung Hau-yee of the force’s cybersecurity and technology crime bureau noted the trend remained upwards, but said: “The rate of increase has shown obvious signs of slowing down.”
She pointed to an 8 per cent increase in the number of cases from 2024 to 2025, compared with a 27 per cent rise from 2023 to 2024.
