EditorialMore online vigilance can help stop scams in Hong Kong
- A ‘vast and borderless’ war has been declared on swindlers, and as arrests climb, the public may play its part in beating crime
A call to arms has been issued to everyone in Hong Kong to join a “vast and borderless” war against scammers.
The number of swindles has surged since the start of the pandemic, more than doubling in 2020 from the previous year. Cases have been rising since then, with police logging 19,444 scams in the first nine months of this year alone.
Victims are from all walks of life, with students, pensioners and professionals among those defrauded. Some have lost millions to con artists who threaten, confuse or falsely offer jobs and ways to make quick money.
The online crime problem has grown even as the overall crime rate remains largely stable, meaning that scammers have become a bigger headache for police than thieves or violent criminals.
Hong Kong is not alone in facing a global threat enabled by rising internet use and accelerated by Covid-19 fears and restrictions that have sent people online for work, shopping or companionship. Scammers find plenty of victims among those who rely on such technology.
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The biggest challenge is that online rackets are “cross-boundary and anonymous”, according to Chief Superintendent Kelly Cheng Lai-ki.