Hong Kong police anti-scam site saves public at least HK$400 million in fraud losses since September launch, police say
- Police say 4,350 red flags raised among 74,000 inquiries in October alone; 7,450 rated at lower risk level
- Junk phone number database boss warns of increase in scam calls from city, rather than overseas
An anti-scam website run by police in Hong Kong is estimated to have avoided at least HK$400 million (US$50.96 million) in fraud losses to the public since it launched in late September.
Superintendent Wilson Fan Chun-yip of the police cybersecurity and technology crime bureau said the “Scameter” site had logged 74,300 inquiries about suspicious calls, emails or hyperlinks from the public last month alone and 4,350 were classified as “red”, the highest risk level, and “related to scam reports, or of high cybersecurity risk”.
Fan on Wednesday said that the average loss in scam cases in September was about HK$138,000.
He added if 3,000 of the 4,350 people who were faced with a high risk last month did not verify the information with the Scameter, they would have lost more than HK$400 million.
“I think this showed that the Scameter was very effective,” he added.
The force said 6,920 inquiries were given an orange alert, and 530 rated a yellow warning. The figures mean a total of 11,800 inquiries, or 16 per cent, were potentially related to scams.
