Job scams: 5 Hongkongers conned out of HK$1.8 million in click farming fraud, police reveal
- Swindlers sent fake job offers through SMS or instant messaging, offering victims cash rewards for e-shopping
- Con artists used thousands of dollars as bait to coax victims into making more transactions
Five Hong Kong residents have been conned out of more than HK$1.8 million (US$14 million) in total after they fell for dubious job offers, which claimed they could get paid by clicking on websites or increasing sales with their own money, police have said.
The victims, aged from 25 to 46, reported their cases to police on Wednesday after they were embroiled in a common type of online employment fraud known as click farming or boosting sales, the force revealed on Thursday.
This type of scam pushed the number of overall online employment fraud cases to 2,884 last year, with the recorded losses reaching HK$459 million.
The figure is more than four times the HK$85 million swindlers pocketed across 1,063 cases in 2021. In 2020, there were 236 cases involving financial losses of HK$10.5 million.
In the latest incidents, swindlers sent fake job offers through SMS or instant messaging, promising the victims cash rewards for e-shopping.
Jobseekers were told that their mission was to boost sales and the popularity of a retail outlet by using their own money to shop online, with swindlers promising to pay them back with a commission.
Con artists used thousands of dollars as bait to coax two of the five victims into making more transactions. A woman, 25, was duped after she responded to an online job advertisement to earn commission by working as a “click farmer”.
“To win the victim’s trust, scammers paid her about HK$2,000 as commission in the first round of purchases,” the force said.
The woman was coaxed into transferring HK$238,000 into three designated bank accounts controlled by the swindlers after being lured into carrying out more transactions.
The victim realised she had been scammed after she did not receive the money she had spent as well as the commission and was unable to reach the fraudsters.
Detectives from the Tai Po criminal investigation unit are following up on her case. No arrests have been made so far.
The other victim – a 23-year-old man – lost more than HK$60,000 after fraudsters used HK$3,600 as bait and coaxed him into making more transactions.
A 30-year-old woman who was conned out of HK$890,000 suffered the most losses among the five cases.
The remaining two victims – a 46-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman – lost HK$370,000 and HK$330,000, respectively.
The force has classified all the cases as “obtaining property by deception”, an offence punishable by up to 10 years in jail.
To attract targets, police pointed out that scammers usually made claims of a “high salary”, “same-day pay” or “work-from-home” arrangements in advertisements, but requirements relating to academic qualifications or work experiences were not requested from victims.
“Fraudsters post job advertisements on a variety of social media platforms, forums or instant messengers, using several pretexts to lure jobseekers into paying fees, guarantee fees or other fees,” the police’s website said.
“After snatching the money, fraudsters will be out of contact.”
