This file photo dated Aug 21, 2019 shows Hong Kong Police Headquarters in Hong Kong. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
Hong Kong police are stepping up efforts to fight fraud with more technical methods, including using a “whitelist” to identify trustworthy parties in e-commerce transactions.
The measures are in response to a dramatic surge of more than 42 percent in deception cases in the special administrative region last year, compared with 2022.
Commissioner of Police Raymond Siu Chak-yee told a meeting of the Legislative Council’s security panel on Wednesday 90,276 crimes were recorded last year -- up nearly 29 percent over the figure for 2022. The increase was driven mainly by a rise in the number of fraud cases, which went up by 42.6 percent and involving more than HK$90 million ($11.5 million). The number of scam cases in 2023 was 3.8 times more than that in 2018.
According to Siu, the 39,824 cases of fraud reported last year were mainly related to online shopping, investments and job scams, as well as social media and telephone pitfalls. The police arrested 9,239 suspects in scam cases – up 75 percent compared with 2022.
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Last year, the anti-scam hotline 18222 successfully intercepted HK$1.29 billion in fraudulent funds
Last year’s overall crime detection rate reached 31.1 percent, which would have been 46.2 percent if the fraud cases had been excluded. Siu said most of the scam syndicates are operating outside Hong Kong, making it harder for the police to investigate.
With fraud cases rampant, the police chief said law enforcement measures will be strengthened through cross-departmental collaboration, and using technical toolkits. The police, the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau and the Office of the Communications Authority are exploring the feasibility of setting up a “whitelist” system that could identify reliable buyers and sellers in e-commerce transactions – a practice already adopted by Singaporean police.
Last year, the anti-scam hotline 18222 successfully intercepted HK$1.29 billion in fraudulent funds. The one-stop scam and pitfall search engine, Scameter, launched in September 2022, and its mobile app, which began operating last year, have so far issued more than 360,000 warnings to the public after having made 2.13 million searches to detect suspects.
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The police will continue to raise the public’s awareness of fraud prevention through online and offline publicity campaigns, and launch new anti-scam measures with stakeholders, Siu said.
Referring to the case involving local virtual asset trading platform JPEX -- one of the biggest fraud cases reported in Hong Kong last year – he said the police had received 2,636 complaints involving HK$1.6 billion by the end of last year. Officers had contacted 2,300 victims, arrested 69 suspects and froze assets worth HK$200 million.
