Hong Kong authorities have issued an urgent warning about a new wave of sophisticated phone scams targeting residents, with fraudsters impersonating officials from mainland China.
The alert comes after a 70-year-old man fell victim to the scheme, losing a staggering HK$12 million in savings.
According to the Anti-Deception Coordination Centre (ADCC), criminals are posing as staff from various mainland tourism bureaus, including those in Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
The elaborate scam typically unfolds in several carefully orchestrated stages, designed to gain the trust of victims.
The scam begins with a phone call from someone claiming to represent a mainland tourism bureau, informing the victim that their Home Return Permit has been stolen and used for illegal activities like company registration.
The call is then transferred to a fake police officer who claims to be investigating the matter.
Under the guise of this "investigation," victims are pressured into revealing sensitive banking information or downloading malicious applications.
Many are tricked into entering their bank account details, passwords, and even one-time verification codes. Once obtained, the scammers quickly drain the victims' accounts.
Police have identified several telltale signs of these scam calls, particularly warning residents to be wary of incoming calls displaying certain international prefixes.
These include numbers beginning with +86 (China), +67 (often spoofed numbers), and +447 (UK numbers commonly used in scams).
Authorities emphasize that legitimate government officials would never request sensitive personal or financial information over the phone.
They advise residents to immediately hang up on any suspicious calls and report them to the 24-hour "Scam Prevention Helpline" at 18222.
This warning comes amid increasing cross-border travel between Hong Kong and mainland China, with scammers exploiting the close connections between the regions.
Police stress that even if callers can provide some personal details, this doesn't confirm their legitimacy, as such information is often obtained through illegal means.
