Last year, there were a record 34,112 cases of cyber-related fraud, a 50% increase from 2022. Scammers also reported a record loss of HK$5.49 billion, a 71% increase from the previous year.
Cybersecurity and Technology Crime Bureau Acting Senior Superintendent Chan Soon Ching said online fraudsters use ever-evolving strategies to deceive victims through phone calls and websites, and there are increasing cases of them using artificial intelligence to fool their targets.
Hong Kong saw a record number of scams last year, with a new victim being scammed every 13 minutes
Ms. Tan said that unfortunately, she found no problem and paid HK$5,500 through the platform.
Later, when her withdrawal was unsuccessful, she became suspicious. The scammer told her that she needed to pay a "handling fee" of US$10,000.
That was until one of her family members checked the platform on Scameter and found it was identified as "high risk," so she complained to the police.
“I used to think scammers were far away from me,” she said. “I believe that even if there is fraud, I will be able to identify it.
"Now I feel that scammers are everywhere, using seemingly reasonable reasons to deceive and gain trust."
