A student from northwestern China who was tricked into a scam in Myanmar was unexpectedly released after the gang learned he had a “bright future”. Peng Yuxuan, 19, from Hanzhong City in Shaanxi province, had just retaken China’s national college entrance exam known as the gaokao in June. His scores and intended university have not…
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…
Smartphones are in nearly every pocket in Hong Kong. More than 95 per cent of people above the age of 10 have them, according to one recent estimate. The city has one of Asia’s highest penetration rates for the devices, and many Hongkongers have multiple lines. But the city is also fighting rising phone scams,…
Hong Kong and Macau police have cracked down on a cross-border phone scam syndicate that defrauded victims of HK$22 million (US$2.8 million) across 168 cases. The operation resulted in the arrests of three men and four women in Macau, aged between 27 and 48, who were suspected to be involved in about 160 telephone scams,…
Your snapshots are, quite literally, the keys to your private life. Your gallery holds your future plans, financial secrets, cat pictures, and sometimes even things you’d never share with anyone. But how often do you truly think about protecting those images? We hope that ever since you heard about the SparkCat cross-platform stealer, you’ve been…
Nine people, mostly university students, have been arrested in Hong Kong over an employment scam that allegedly defrauded the government of HK$140,000 (US$17,887) of subsidies through an internship programme. Police said they received a report from a local university in November that a man had allegedly used two companies to falsely recruit eight students for…
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…
Hong Kong police have detained three men in a crackdown on a syndicate that defrauded at least seven victims of HK$4 million (US$512,820) in a London gold trading scam. The force said on Sunday that the suspects, aged 25 to 36, lacked experience in the financial sector and rented offices in bustling commercial districts to…
Hong Kong police have detained three men in a crackdown on a syndicate that defrauded at least seven victims of HK$4 million (US$512,820) in a London gold trading scam. The force said on Sunday that the suspects, aged 25 to 36, lacked experience in the financial sector and rented offices in bustling commercial districts to…
Pune police have uncovered a concerning trend involving criminals using dating apps as a tool for robbery, particularly targeting members of the LGBTQ community. In a recent operation, police arrested four persons using an LGBTQ dating platform to lure victims before robbing them. Once contact was established, victims were invited to isolated locations where…