Recently, it has come to the Police’s attention that there is an increase in the number of telephone deception cases and the modus operandi has evolved. Unlike the past practice in which the fraudsters instructed the victims to transfer money to designated bank accounts, the fraudsters would now directly request the victims to provide personal data such as online banking accounts and passwords. Alternatively, the fraudsters would provide the victims with a link to a fake website, or to download unknown mobile applications, instructing the victims to input their personal data including their online banking accounts and passwords. When the fraudsters have gained access to the victims’ accounts, they would sell the stocks and foreign currencies, cancel the time deposits or even apply for loans, transferring the balances out of the accounts in a blink.

Despite the Police’s continuous publicity against telephone deception, the loss involved already exceeded HK$54.16 million in the first quarter of this year, of which HK$40.36 million were attributed to the aforementioned modus operandi. Therefore, members of the public are advised to remind their friends, family members and the elderly not to fall victim to telephone deception. The Anti-Deception Coordination Centre (ADCC) has been collaborating with different stakeholders to protect members of the public from falling prey to scams and suffering losses.

The ADCC has joined hands with the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau, Crime Prevention Bureau, Police Public Relations Branch and Regional Crime Prevention Offices (RCPOs) to roll out a series of anti-deception initiatives to alert members of the public. For example, the latest modus operandi of telephone deception was posted repeatedly on the Hong Kong Police’s Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and WeChat. A number of artistes and celebrities, including Mr Yeung Ming, Ms Tam Yuk-ying, Mr Chu Man-hon, Ms Chea Shuk-mui and Dr Ko Wing-man, were invited to take part in the production of anti-deception videos or audio clips. RCPOs and Police Community Relations Offices distributed promotional leaflets in their respective districts to remind members of the public to stay alert against deception.

To promote the “Anti-Scam Helpline 18222” and raise the public’s anti-deception awareness, the ADCC disseminated anti-deception messages through various online platforms and channels, and advertised on a wide range of popular websites and mobile applications to draw public attention to the latest defrauding tricks. On May 5, the ADCC gave an interview to a radio programme of Radio Television Hong Kong, thereby alerting the audience to the latest modus operandi of telephone deception.

In addition, the ADCC has been working closely with the banking industry to keep members of the public safe from scams. Regarding the latest modus operandi of telephone deception, the ADCC arranged meetings with the banks’ management and shared with the frontline bank staff the defrauding tricks and ways to identify potential victims. On May 7, the ADCC presented certificates of appreciation to frontline bank staff from The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, Hang Seng Bank Limited, Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited and Chiyu Banking Corporation Limited in recognition of their outstanding performances, in which they timely identified customers who fell victims to telephone deception and stopped the scams, protecting customers from any losses.

In case members of the public fall prey to scams, the ADCC will continue to help the victims and keep losses to a minimum, contacting corresponding banks and intercepting payments to fraudsters as soon as practicable. Between January 1 and April 30 this year, HK$1.028 billion were successfully intercepted by the ADCC. The Police will continue to join forces with different stakeholders to prevent and combat deception.