Police patrol outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong on June 10, 2019. (ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP)

HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s overall crime rate increased 1.8 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2022 mainly due to a rise in deception cases, the Hong Kong Police Force said Monday.

In a statement issued on Monday afternoon, the police said they recorded 31,434 crimes in the first six months of the year, showing an increase of 563 cases or 1.8 percent when compared to the 30,871 cases during the same period in 2021.

The number of cases of robbery, burglary, rape, wounding and serious assault, snatching, pickpocketing and theft from vehicle hit a new record low since half yearly figures were maintained in 1977

"The law and order situation in the first half of 2022 remained stable. Although the majority of crimes registered decreases, a significant rise of over 3,600 deception cases was registered," the statement reads.

The number of deception cases rose from 8,699 cases to 12,326 cases, registering a significant increase of 3,627 cases or 41.7 percent, police said.

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Over 70 percent of the reports were Internet-related, with 3,944 cases involving online shopping fraud while the others were linked to investment fraud (1,271 cases) and telephoned deception (786).

The huge amount of losses involved in ‘investment fraud’ and ‘telephone deception’ cases, which was over HK$700 million (US$89.18 million) and HK$400 million respectively, "remained a cause for concern,” according to the statement.

The Anti-Deception Coordination Centre prevented victims in over 300 cases from wiring money to fraudsters and intercepting over HK$700 million before the money reached the scammers, it added.

Police noted blackmail and homicide cases also registered significant increase. A total of 921 cases of blackmail were recorded, an increase of 214 cases or 30.3 percent when compared with the same period last year.

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The upsurge was mainly attributed to “naked chat” blackmail, totaling 708 cases, showing an increase of 215 cases. Students remained as the largest group of victims at 25 percent while over 60 percent of the victims were aged 30 or below.

On the other hand, violent crimes decreased by 569 cases or 12.2 percent to 4,084 cases while the number of cases of robbery, burglary, rape, wounding and serious assault, snatching, pickpocketing and theft from vehicle hit a new record low since half yearly figures were maintained in 1977.

As of June 30, police have arrested a total of 201 persons on suspicion of violating the National Security Law for Hong Kong. Over half of the arrestees have been charged, according to the statement.

The Counter-terrorism Reporting Hotline also received a total of over 3,800 messages as of mid-July and police have been taking follow-up actions for reports involving terrorism or violence, it added.

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