179 Hongkongers lose total of HK$1.6 million in online shopping scams over 1 week
“HK$250, 000 were lost in 46 cases related to the purchase of concert tickets,” police said, adding that scammers usually offered ticket sales through auction mobile applications.
“After transferring the money, victims were then blocked from accessing the app.”
Another 23 victims lost HK$30,000 after being duped into buying health supplement products.
“Fake web pages selling health supplement products have emerged recently. Swindlers usually offer discounted prices to attract and deceive buyers,” police warned.
An additional 18 online fraud cases involving HK$300,000 in designer handbag sale scams were also reported.
51 arrested in Hong Kong crackdown on scams involving nearly HK$100 million
Police said scammers pretended to sell handbags on online auction platforms with low prices to lure victims.
The victims found out they had been conned when they did not receive the goods and were unable to contact the “sellers”.
Police remind online shoppers to look for the seller’s information before making payment, as well as pay attention to negative reviews, the web page’s creation date and name changes.
The force warned that scammers also posed as shoppers and used bounced cheques or bogus cash deposit receipts to cheat.
In Hong Kong, obtaining property by deception carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail.
Officers handled 8,950 cases of online shopping fraud last year, an increase of 2.5 per cent from 8,735 cases logged in 2022.
187 Hongkongers lose total of HK$1.3 million in online shopping scams over 1 week
But the amount lost rose by 157 per cent to HK$190.5 million last year from HK$74.1 million the year before.
Police advise the public to use the force’s Scameter search engine, accessible through the CyberDefender website, to check for suspicious or fraudulent schemes.
The search engine has information to help users identify suspicious web addresses, emails, platform usernames, bank accounts, mobile phone numbers and IP addresses.