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The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) has been in close collaboration with the Singapore Police Force (SPF) in combating transnational and cross-boundary deception and money laundering activities. To recognise the outstanding work of both forces, the Ministry of Home Affairs of Singapore presented the Minister for Home Affairs Operational Excellence Award to SPF, HKPF’s Commercial Crime Bureau (CCB) and Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau (CSTCB) through an online ceremony on October 28.
In 2020, CCB and CSTCB, together with the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) of SPF, mounted a joint operation against a phishing e-mail cum credit card fraud syndicate involving over 150 fraudulent online credit card transactions from victims around the world. The victims suffered a total loss of HK$1.3 million and over two billion pieces of personal data were stolen. The close collaboration between HKPF and SPF led to the swift identification and the arrest of five core syndicate members in Hong Kong. The success of the operation sent a strong deterrent message to transnational criminal syndicates and prevented more victims from falling prey to such scam.
Since its establishment in 2017, the Anti-Deception Coordination Centre (ADCC) of CCB has been actively working with the Anti-Scam Centre (ASC) of CAD of SPF to combat deception related crimes, including the establishment of a reciprocal stop payment mechanism. Between July 2017 and June 2021, a total of 389 stop payment requests were made between ADCC and CAD, with a total of HK$110 million crime proceeds withheld.
In 2021, ADCC and ASC mounted an intelligence-led operation targeting an email scam, in which a transnational money laundering syndicate opened numerous corporate accounts in Hong Kong and Singapore in the name of various Hong Kong shell companies. The close collaboration and sharing of key investigation findings between ADCC and ASC uncovered a large network of shell companies and accounts, and stringent enforcement actions were taken subsequently.
CSTCB also maintains close liaison with SPF in combating technology crime. In view of the ever-changing cyber activities, strengthened collaboration between different law enforcement agencies is required to enhance cyber security. A number of joint operations have been conducted between the two forces over the years to combat various types of crimes and syndicates and more collaboration opportunities are expected in future.
