Hong Kong police have arrested eight people in an operation targeting a criminal syndicate using bounced cheques and screenshots of forged money transfers to scam merchants. Tam Tsz-wai, chief inspector of the force’s regional crime unit in New Territories North, said on Saturday the syndicate was behind 20 cases involving a total of HK$2.4 million…
Hong Kong police have issued a warning over a rising trend of fake official scams targeting mainland Chinese students after fraudsters tried to stage the kidnapping of an 18-year-old to extort HK$6 million (US$771,850) from his father. Senior Inspector Chu Yuen-tim of the Hong Kong Island regional technology and financial crime unit said on Saturday…
Hong Kong police have arrested a 14-year-old boy for allegedly collecting HK$554,000 (US$71,235) from three elderly residents as part of a phone scam in which victims were told they needed to pay bail money to have their sons released. The force said on Saturday that the teen was apprehended a day earlier on suspicion of…
Hong Kong police have arrested a 14-year-old boy for allegedly collecting more than HK$550,000 (US$70,700) from three elderly residents as part of a phone scam that claimed the victims needed to pay bail money to have their sons released. The force said on Saturday that the boy was apprehended a day earlier on suspicion of…
With the recent whirlwind of advances in the development of artificial intelligence (AI), it is natural for businesses and investors to want to leverage its power for future growth. It is also natural to have concerns about misuse and abuse by scammers. As such, the new government policy for “responsible” use of AI at the…
Hong Kong police have issued a warning over an increasing number of scammers posing as officers and technical support staff, as the force launches a second round of a raffle to raise public awareness about fraud. Commissioner of Police Raymond Siu Chak-yee said on Thursday residents risked losing their life savings to scams in some…
Nearly 60 Hongkongers, including four women, were victims of extortion in which they were tricked into undressing during video chats and then coerced into paying more than HK$1.9 million (US$244,430) over the past week. The force revealed the figures on its CyberDefender Facebook page on Friday, reminding residents to be cautious when meeting people on…
Hong Kong police have for the first time smashed a local fraud syndicate that used deepfake technology to swap the faces of the swindlers with those of attractive women in video calls to cheat love-struck men in the region, including Singapore, out of HK$360 million (U$46 million). The force said on Monday it had arrested…
Hong Kong students as young as 11 years old accounted for a fifth of the victims of “naked-chat blackmail” in the first half of this year, prompting police on Monday to warn residents to be cautious while meeting people online. The crime typically involves scammers luring victims into disrobing during video chats and then threatening…