Hong Kong police warn WhatsApp scams on the rise after 130 people duped in 1 week
- Police warn scams involving messaging platform led to combined loss of more than HK$1.7 million last week
- ‘In most cases, the victims received WhatsApp messages from scammers posing as their relatives or friends, who claimed there was an urgent need for money’, police say
Hong Kong police have warned the public to stay vigilant for online fraudsters who hijack WhatsApp accounts and use them to dupe people on users’ contact lists after more than 130 people fell for such scams in a single week.
The force issued an alert on its CyberDefender Facebook page on Monday and said that that 131 scams involving the messaging platform had led to a combined loss of more than HK$1.7 million (US$217,300) last week.
“In most cases, the victims received WhatsApp messages from scammers posing as their relatives or friends, who claimed there was an urgent need for money due to emergencies,” the force said.
“The victims were asked to transfer the money as soon as possible.”
The force added people realised they had been conned when they spoke to the real account users after they had sent money.
Police said swindlers typically sent phishing text messages with links to fake websites and employed different excuses to trick WhatsApp users into revealing their account verification codes.
Scammers used the information to access accounts and posed as the users to dupe people on the real owner’s contacts list.
Swindlers could also gain access to a user’s account if the victim scanned a QR code on the page, which would connect it with the swindler’s device and allow them to scam their contacts, the force said.
“If you receive a text message asking for money or a bank transfer request from friends or relatives, please remember to call and confirm first,” the force added.
Fraudsters created scam websites disguised as login pages for the WhatsApp message platform last year.
Police figures show a significant rise in the theft of online accounts, with 3,434 reports last year compared with the 168 cases logged in 2022. Most of the cases involved WhatsApp accounts.
Financial losses increased to HK$87.6 million in 2023 from HK$73.8 million the year before – a HK$13.8 million jump.
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WhatsApp scams first came to the attention of police in November 2017 when fewer than 10 cases were reported in the city.
But a surge in cases led to warn the public a year later, advising WhatsApp users to set up a two-step verification process on their accounts.
The force told the public on Tuesday to “avoid disclosing passwords and verification codes casually or scanning QR codes without verifying”.
Police also appealed to people to use the force’s “Scameter” search engine, accessible through the CyberDefender website, to check for suspicious or fraudulent activity.
The search engine can help identify suspicious web addresses, emails, platform usernames, bank accounts, mobile phone numbers and IP addresses.
The city recorded a 42.6 per cent increase in all types of deception to 39,824 cases last year from 27,923 reports in 2022.
The amount lost went up by 89 per cent to HK$9.1 billion in 2023 from HK$4.8 billion the year before.
