Hong Kong police are searching for a man suspected of using counterfeit banknotes to buy two luxury watches worth HK$4.5 million (US$573,242). Two men, aged 30 and 32, allegedly met the suspect, who expressed interest in buying the two high-end watches – Patek Philippe and Richard Mille – that they owned. The buyer then asked…
A Chinese factory worker was left heartbroken and financially devastated after his fiancée, who claimed to be a military officer, vanished after allegedly fleecing him and his family out of 650,000 yuan (US$91,000). The 30-something man, surnamed Ji, who had only met the woman a handful of times over an eight-year period, had been under…
Hong Kong police have arrested a man who allegedly impersonated a firefighter on dating apps to dupe three women into paying for lavish meals before running off without settling bills totalling HK$3,800 (US$484). Police said on Thursday that the man, 29, was arrested in Tuen Mun a day earlier on suspicion of obtaining property by…
A Hong Kong woman trying to sell an electric toothbrush on a popular online marketplace fell victim to a scam that cost her HK$800,000 (US$102,370). The victim, a 38-year-old living on Bonham Road in the Mid-Levels, had listed the item on Carousell and was approached by a supposed buyer expressing interest. The buyer claimed the…
A mainland Chinese student who admitted using a fake certificate from a US Ivy League university to get into a top Hong Kong tertiary institution will “inevitably” face jail time, a magistrate has said. Acting principal magistrate Cheang Kei-hong on Thursday convicted Li Sixuan, 28, of two crimes after she pleaded guilty to obtaining services…
A mainland Chinese student who admitted using a fake certificate from a US Ivy League university to get into a top Hong Kong tertiary institution will “inevitably” face jail time, a magistrate has said. Acting principal magistrate Cheang Kei-hong on Thursday convicted Li Sixuan, 28, of two crimes after she pleaded guilty to obtaining services…
Hong Kong authorities have warned the public over a scam that uses a deepfake video of the finance chief touting a new government investment opportunity, saying police have already launched an investigation. In the faked TV news clip, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po tells an interviewer about a rare opportunity available to investors who get…
Many traditional forms of violent crime are in marked decline, with assault and wounding cases in 2024 falling to their lowest in 51 years at 3,614 incidents, and arson to the lowest in 40 years at 234 cases. If only those figures, released by Commissioner of Police Raymond Siu Chak-yee, were an accurate reflection of…
The number of scams reported in Hong Kong has increased by 11.7 per cent year on year, including more than 5,500 cases featuring a new type of deception involving fake customer service messages. Commissioner of Police Raymond Siu Chak-yee said on Tuesday that the force had recorded 94,727 criminal cases in 2024, a 5 per…
Hong Kong resident Alan Chew* was aware that scamming had become rampant and believed he had done everything right after coming across an online investment opportunity. Yet, over four months from last October, he lost HK$1.3 million (US$145,100) of his life savings to scammers who persuaded, cajoled and threatened him over WhatsApp messages into parting…