Hongkongers lost more than HK$9 billion to scams last year, helping to fuel 29% rise in crime
- City recorded 90,276 crimes last year, with 44 per cent involving scams, according to police chief Raymond Siu
- Murder reports dropped to 28 cases last year, with nine cases involving domestic violence
Hongkongers lost more than HK$9 billion (US$1.15 billion) in a variety of scams last year, with an uptick in cases helping to fuel a nearly 30 per cent surge in reported crimes, the police chief has said.
In delivering his annual roundup to lawmakers on Tuesday, Police Commissioner Raymond Siu Chak-yee also stressed that while traditional offences, such as robbery, had increased in 2023 against the previous year, the base of comparison was low given there were fewer crimes when the city was locked down due to the pandemic.
The city recorded 90,276 crimes last year, a 28.9 per cent rise over 2022’s figure, while the overall detection rate, or the proportion of crimes solved, stood at 31.1 per cent, he said.
“Since the first half of 2022 still saw pandemic restrictions, the tally for traditional crimes was particularly low, with some reaching historical lows,” he said. “As society recovered in 2023, most traditional crimes also rose.”
Police last year handled 39,824 scams, accounting for 44.1 per cent of all recorded crimes.