Lattes to take on scammers? Hong Kong police chief suggests anti-fraud slogans on coffee cups, restaurant napkins to raise awareness after surge in cases
- ‘We will show it to you even if you don’t ask for it,’ says Commissioner of Police Raymond Siu as he explores ways to inject scam awareness into people’s lives
- Commissioner reveals investment fraud accounted for nearly two-thirds of losses from scams last year, with CEOs among the victims
Commissioner of Police Raymond Siu Chak-Yee on Saturday also warned the public to be alert to investment schemes promising high returns and low risks as they were often scams that were difficult to stop as fraudsters had already sent the money overseas by the time the victim realised they had been duped.
The city recorded 39,824 cases of fraud last year, resulting in about HK$9.18 billion (US$1.17 billion) in losses. Siu said 70 per cent of the cases involved online scams.
The number of cases accounted for 44 per cent of all crimes and marked a 43 per cent jump compared with 2022.
“In terms of pure numbers, most of the cases were related to online shopping, because shopping on the internet is so common nowadays,” he told a radio programme on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
The police chief said the force had plans to raise scam awareness by making sure anti-fraud messages became part of the everyday lives of Hongkongers.
“We’re thinking about a lot of different ways right now. For example, we are currently in talks with some catering groups, since Hong Kong people love to go out and eat,” he said.
“Maybe we can put some slogans on napkins or on cups at coffee shops … We will show [anti-fraud messages] to you even if you don’t ask for them.”
Siu added investment scams also increased last year compared with 2022 and accounted for nearly two-thirds, or HK$5.9 billion, of the total losses in 2023, with many highly-educated people falling for them.
“We see many victims … some are even CEOs of international companies or people with investment experience,” he said.
More than 230 Hongkongers scammed by online deals in single August week
“Oftentimes they see ads online that peddle investment opportunities that claim to have low risks and high returns, and the victims themselves take the initiative to reach out to the scammers.”
The commissioner explained that the scammers made themselves appear more legitimate by providing a platform for victims to monitor the performance of their so-called investments, with some even giving real initial payouts to lure people to double-down on their initial sum.
He gave the example of a woman who made initial “investments” of HK$50,000 and saw HK$10,000 in “returns” in her bank account the same day.
The victim went on to to give the scammers HK$3 million.
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Siu added by the time victims discovered they were being scammed, it was often too late as the money would have already been sent overseas, making the cases even harder to crack.
He appealed to the public to make use of the government’s anti-fraud tools, such as the round-the-clock 18222 “Anti-Scam Helpline”, set up to help in suspected deception cases, and the force’s “Scameter” app, designed to allow users to enter information such as phone numbers, email addresses, or web URLs for risk assessment.
Siu added police would use their discretion when handling illegal parking on the streets over the Lunar New Year holiday.
“But it won’t be a one-size-fits-all approach,” he warned. “If illegal parking is found to be very serious and may even pose a danger, we will also take enforcement action.
“I hope everyone understands that it’s unfair to blame our colleagues for giving out parking tickets.”
