A Hong Kong car owner has lost HK$500,000 (US$63,800) to scammers posing as petrol company staff who exploited surging fuel prices by offering bogus top-up deals for membership cards, police have said. The victim received unsolicited WhatsApp messages from fraudsters claiming to represent a fuel company, according to a post on the force’s CyberDefender Facebook…
A housewife in Hong Kong has lost nearly HK$2.5 million (US$320,500) in an online shopping scam after she tried to buy collagen drinks for HK$530, according to police. The victim saw a Facebook post advertising collagen drinks and transferred HK$530 via Faster Payment System, police said on their CyberDefender Facebook page. The seller later claimed…
Hong Kong police have arrested 71 people for operating stooge accounts used by scammers, with the largest case involving a senior director at a multinational company who was defrauded of HK$134 million after transferring the funds to criminals impersonating his chief executive. Inspector Tsang Kin-wa of the Hong Kong Island regional technology and financial crime…
All of Hong Kong’s 28 retail banks, including virtual ones, will offer an anti-scam service from Wednesday that requires extra verification before money can be withdrawn, with 3,200 people depositing HK$1.6 billion during a trial. Hong Kong Monetary Authority deputy chief executive Arthur Yuen Kwok-hang said on Tuesday that around 20 per cent of the…
Police have issued warnings for a second day in a row about scammers preying on grieving Hongkongers under the guise of donations and relief efforts, with aid pouring in for victims of Wednesday’s deadly inferno at a Tai Po housing estate. Police said in an online post on Sunday that officers had noticed a fraudulent…
Hong Kong police recorded HK$3.6 billion (US$463 million) in technology crime losses in the first seven months of 2025, an 18 per cent increase year-on-year despite a decrease in the number of cases, as cybercriminals become more adept at identifying high-value targets using artificial intelligence. Rachel Hui Yee-wai, superintendent at the force’s cyber security and…
Hong Kong police recorded HK$3.6 billion (US$463 million) in technology crime losses in the first seven months of 2025, an 18 per cent increase year-on-year despite a decrease in the number of cases, as cybercriminals become more adept at identifying high-value targets using artificial intelligence. Rachel Hui Yee-wai, superintendent at the force’s cyber security and…
Hong Kong’s de facto central bank reached out to retail banks on Friday for input on how lenders and their customers should share responsibility for losses when the customers fall victim to scams, as such cases continue to rise in the city. As part of an industry consultation process, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA)…
A 16-year-old Form Five student and a person with a triad background were among four suspects arrested by Hong Kong police in an operation targeting a criminal syndicate using bounced cheques to scam sellers of luxury items. Cheung Wai-shan, chief inspector of the force’s regional crime unit in Western district, said on Saturday that the…
(Photo by Prostock-studio on Shutterstock) New research shows attackers could partially transcribe calls by sensing tiny earpiece vibrations with off-the-shelf radar In A Nutshell Researchers at Penn State built “WirelessTap,” a proof-of-concept that uses millimeter-wave radar to detect tiny vibrations from smartphone earpieces during calls. AI transcription of these signals reached up to 59.25% word…