Police also appealed to the public to report suspicious numbers and web links on the platform to help the force expand its database of possible links to scammers.

“Our goal is to join hands with residents to collectively combat fraud, provide more direct fraud alerts to the public and make use of artificial intelligence technology to more effectively deter scams,” acting senior superintendent Chan Shun-ching of the cybersecurity and technology crime bureau said last week as the force publicised its work.

There were a record 34,112 cases of technology-related fraud last year, 50 per cent more than in 2022. The amount reported lost to scammers was also a record – HK$5.49 billion, a 71 per cent increase on the year before.

Chan said online scammers used ever-evolving tactics to prey on victims through phone calls and websites, with a rising number of cases where they used artificial intelligence to fool their targets.

The Scameter search engine, which went live last February, uses a database of a variety of online links to probable scammers, built up from cases reported by victims and with help from information security companies.

Anyone who gets a call, text message or email from a suspicious web address, phone number, email address, or comes across an unfamiliar payment account can go to the Scameter and fill in the details to check against its database.

The app will tell users the level of threat they face – high risk, possible risk, potential risk or if there is no record of a scam risk.

The app has recorded more than 230,000 downloads since its launch.

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A businesswoman, who asked to be identified only by her surname Tam, said she was a victim of online fraud and might have lost even more money if not for the Scameter app.

She said a stranger who claimed to be an importer contacted her over the WhatsApp messaging platform and tricked her into carrying out an online transaction over what was later found to be a fake shopping platform.

Tam said, despite more than three years’ experience in online business, she failed to spot anything wrong and paid HK$5,500 through the platform.

Her suspicions were aroused only after she tried to get her money back later, and the fraudster told her she would have to pay a US$10,000 “processing fee”.

When a family member suggested a Scameter check, she entered the platform link and the app said it was recognised as “high risk”, so she made a complaint to police.

“I used to think that scammers were far away from me,” she said. “I believed that even if a fraud attempt turned up, I would be able to identify it.

“Now I feel that scammers are everywhere, using plausible reasons to deceive and gain trust.”

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The public can now report suspicious websites and the phone numbers of unfamiliar callers after the improvements to the service.

Chan said the force hoped the changes would encourage greater public participation in expanding the database, which would help other potential victims.

“The most important thing is to raise public awareness about fraud through promotion,” he said. “We aim to provide timely warnings.”

Chief Inspector Tang Kwok-hin, also from the cybersecurity bureau, said the force was using AI technology to analyse and rate the risk of links, mobile numbers and other information added to Scameter database.

He added the updated automatic alert function would require users to turn on some permissions on their mobile devices, but that the app would not store their call or browsing records.

Police would push the most updated database to users’ mobile phones, and the app would compare incoming calls and website records against its database and send alerts.

Tang said that users could decide whether to continue answering calls or browsing after they received the alerts.

He added that only the public report feature required users to provide their phone number as a guarantee of information quality.