Hong Kong police round up 1,200 people in crackdown on online scams and phone deception, with victims reporting losses of HK$2.17 billion
Hui of the cybersecurity and technology crime bureau said most of the cases involved online investment scams, employment fraud and e-shopping swindles.
Police also froze more than HK$26 million in suspected crime proceeds and seized many mobile phones and computers during the operation.
Chief Inspector Alex Fan Wai-ho of the financial intelligence and investigation bureau said nearly 80 per cent of the suspects, or 966 people, arrested held bank accounts that were used to collect scammed money and launder illegal funds.
“The situation is worrisome,” he said.
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Fan said investigations revealed that criminal syndicates recruited domestic helpers to set up bank accounts that were used for money laundering. They also left posts on social media to lure residents, especially young people, into offering their bank accounts for a small amount of money.
He also revealed that among the 966 account holders arrested in the operation, 38 were domestic helpers.
During the operation, officers from his bureau smashed a money-laundering syndicate which recruited domestic helpers into setting up 25 bank accounts to collect HK$3.4 million in scammed money.
On November 27, they arrested 16 people, including 14 domestic helpers, in a series of raids.
“Investigations revealed that domestic helpers were paid HK$200 to HK$500 each to help the syndicate set up bank accounts that were used to collect illegal funds,” Fan said.
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He reminded the public not to lend or sell their bank accounts to others for handling cash from unknown sources as they could face money laundering charges. In Hong Kong, the crime is punishable by up to 14 years in jail and a HK$5 million fine.
Officers from the cybercrime bureau this week also broke up a local criminal syndicate in their efforts to combat a sharp rise in scams arising from compromised online messaging accounts.
The gang hijacked WhatsApp accounts with scammers impersonating their targets to swindle money from online contacts between early October and mid-November.
Hui said 326 people, aged from 17 to 70, fell victim to the scam and lost nearly HK$4 million transferred into 18 bank accounts.
Officers swooped into action on Wednesday after collecting evidence and arrested 10 men and two women on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering.
In the first 10 months of this year, 2,848 reports were made of instant messaging accounts being hacked, with losses of HK$5.5 million.
Hui said more than 95 per cent of the cases involved WhatsApp accounts.
She said sham WhatsApp login pages were one of the two popular tactics used by scammers to hack the accounts.
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She also warned that swindlers recently deployed phishing text messages to coax account holders into clicking on attached hyperlinks or lure them into visiting bogus websites to induce targets to provide personal information and passwords that were used to hack the accounts.
Police said the investigation was ongoing and further arrests were possible.
Hong Kong recorded a 52 per cent increase in all types of deception, with 33,923 cases reported in the first 10 months this year from 22,309 logged in the same period in 2022.
Losses also rose 93 per cent to HK$7.25 billion between January and October this year from HK$3.76 billion during the same period in 2022.