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| Anti-fraud information bulletin from Privacy Commission |
Hong Kong Police have said in a news conference Friday that a total of HK$3.5 billion was lost to scams in the first half of the year, involving 20,613 cases.
Only around a tenth of
the cases involved investment scams, but the total losses from these amounted
to nearly half of the total, or HK$1.66 billion.
Possibly the
biggest loser was a 67-year-old foreign businessman who was tricked into buying
HK$84.79 million worth of cryptocurrency, then transferring all these into the
digital wallet of a fraudster who posed as an investment expert on Facebook.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
After befriending
the businessman in June 2025, the scammer started a romantic relationship and
over the next seven months, succeeded in syphoning off all the cryptocurrency
that the victim was enticed to buy.
In classic fashion,
the businessman realized he had been scammed only after failing to withdraw his
supposed investment returns.
The same thing happened to a 64-year-old local businesswoman who was conned into purchasing cryptocurrency amounting to HK$10 million by a scammer who she met online in May, after posting a property rental advertisement.
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| PINDUTIN ITO PARA SA DETALYE |
The scammer who
posed as an interested buyer of the property befriended the victim, and
eventually convinced her to invest in cryptocurrency, and offered to help set
up her account.
It was during the
set-up process that the scammer managed to steal the victim’s wallet
credentials and password, and siphon all the money from the account.
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| Fun Coffee investment a Ponzi scheme, say police |
Another investment
scam that unravelled in the past several months was the Fun Coffee case, in
which more than 270 people had reported losing a total of more than HK$113
million.
The victims aged
32 to 83, each lost between HK$3,000 and HK$9.63 million in the alleged Ponzi scheme
which was run through an app that disappeared online in mid-July.
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| Basahin ang detalye! |
Hong Kong Police
said eight people have been arrested in connection with the case, including two
who live in Macau.
Officers said they
have been working with international law enforcement agencies to tackle
companies suspected of engaging in fraudulent activities, in particular those
claiming to be based overseas.
