122 arrested in anti-tech crime and scam operation, involving $91.46mn

Police conducted a series of operations targeting technology crimes and scams from February to March, resulting in the arrest of 122 individuals involved in 80 cases.

There were 256 victims being swindled out of a total of HK$91.46 million. In one case, several victims were deceived into investing in mainland stocks and their losses totaled HK$12.2 million. 

Other cases involved online shopping scams, job scams, low-interest loan scams, romance scams, as well as travel package scams.

The 122 arrestees, 80 men and 42 women, were aged 19 to 80. Among them, 117 were holders of stooge accounts. They are suspected of obtaining property by deception and money laundering. 

The victims - 116 men and 140 women - were aged 18 to 89. The number of individual losses varied from HK$1,160 to HK$1.22 million, with nearly 30 percent of the victims scammed via online shopping.

Police found that the fraud syndicates recruited individuals, including foreign domestic helpers, to provide dummy accounts. Officers also found instances where fraudsters deceived victims by pretending to offer legal advice to help them recover the losses, only to lure them into making further transfers to the dummy accounts.