Fraudster claims to be Hong Kong deputy police chief demanding pay-off as scammers grow more brazen
Criminal tactics evolving, force says, as it reveals 734 reports of scammers posing as officers in first nine months of year, an increase of 8.1 per cent
Scammers have become even more brazen in their impersonations targeting Hong Kong victims, with some fraudsters posing as a deputy police commissioner demanding a “pay-off” and as officers from the force’s very own anti-deception unit, authorities have warned.
The force revealed on Monday it had received 734 reports of scammers posing as officers in the first nine months of the year, an increase of 8.1 per cent over the 679 reports recorded during the same period last year. Losses during the first nine months of the year reached HK$788 million (US$101 million), it added.
Last week, the force received a report of a fraudster posing as Deputy Commissioner of Police Johnson Chan Joon-sun, accusing the victim of committing a crime and instructing her to hand over HK$250,000 as a “pay-off”.
Senior Inspector Wan Pik-yee said scammers would usually add victims to a WhatsApp chat group, changing its name and display picture to the logo of the Anti-Fraud Coordination Centre and impersonating law enforcement authorities.
“The scammers would accuse the victims of being involved in money laundering or other crimes, and request them to provide their personal information, such as their identity numbers, bank account information and transfer funds as a guarantee,” she said.
Wan warned that officers from the centre would never ask residents to disclose such information, and neither would they request funds be transferred or meetings in places outside of police stations.
