Hong Kong police have arrested 269 men and women in a two-week anti-fraud operation involving 203 suspected fraud and technology crime cases and about HK$320 million in reported losses. Police said the cases mainly involved telephone, online shopping and online investment scams.
Police said they recorded 20,613 fraud cases in the first six months of the year, involving HK$3.51 billion in losses. The totals were down 0.7 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively from the same period last year, but telephone and phishing scams increased. Separate police figures put telephone scams at 4,830 cases, up 45 per cent, and phishing scams at more than 1,000 cases, up by more than 60 per cent.
In one case, police said they had dismantled a telephone scam syndicate that allegedly operated from rented hotel rooms. The suspects allegedly used large numbers of SIM cards and devices known as “catfish” units to impersonate delivery companies and payment services, including SF Express and Alipay. Messages falsely claimed that parcels had failed to arrive, accounts had problems or payments were required, directing recipients to fake websites to submit personal information and one-time passwords.
Four men were arrested in that case, according to police. Officers seized two catfish devices, 12 mobile phones, two computers and 163 SIM cards, while the alleged losses were about HK$570,000. Another report said the syndicate had sent more than 2,000 phishing messages while posing as courier companies or customer-service representatives.
Police also alleged that another group used social media to pose as insurance brokers, buyers of goods or investment advisers. The suspects allegedly deposited worthless cheques as supposed guarantees, then persuaded victims to transfer money after the payments appeared in their accounts. Five men and three women were arrested in connection with 19 similar cases involving about HK$25 million, police said.
In a separate investigation, 15 people were arrested over the alleged use of stolen or lost identity-card information, AI and image-editing software to alter identity-card photographs and open bank or stored-value payment accounts. Police said three local banks and one stored-value payment operator recorded more than 200 suspicious applications between November last year and July this year. Forty-two accounts were successfully opened, and 14 were allegedly used to launder about HK$1.13 million in suspected criminal proceeds.
Police said residents should not provide selfies, assist with biometric verification or open accounts for other people. They advised anyone receiving an unverified customer-service call to hang up and check the matter through the service provider’s official app. The supplied information confirms arrests but does not state how many of those detained have been charged.