Investment fraud is driving a significant portion of financial losses in Hong Kong, with scams on Meta platforms accounting for nearly 40 percent of the HK$6.43 billion lost to all scams in the first ten months of this year, police revealed.
According to data from the Hong Kong Police Force, 35,831 scam cases were recorded from January to October, with losses totaling HK$6.43 billion. Nearly half of that amount—HK$2.6 billion—stemmed from 3,750 online investment fraud cases that originated on Meta platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
Superintendent Theodora Lee Wai-see of the Commercial Crime Bureau's Anti-Deception Coordination Centre noted that while overall scam figures are stable, investment fraud cases and their associated losses have risen sharply by 20 percent and 30 percent, respectively. Over half of the victims are professionals aged between 40 and 59.
Contrary to the perception that greed drives such scams, Lee explained that many victims are simply individuals who habitually seek investment advice online. "They encounter fake investment advertisements on social media, click on the links, and are redirected to WhatsApp groups," she said. In these groups, actors pretend to profit by following a "tutor," creating a false sense of legitimacy that eventually persuades cautious observers to invest.
The fraudsters then direct victims to download fake investment platforms, often available on legitimate app stores, further lowering their guard. Initial small withdrawals are allowed to build trust, but when victims attempt to retrieve larger sums, scammers demand additional deposits under various pretexts, leading to severe losses.
Enforcement remains a challenge, Li acknowledged. While police have established a direct reporting channel with Meta to flag fraudulent accounts and posts, jurisdictional hurdles persist as many of the platform’s servers are located overseas.
One victim, identified only as Ray, shared how he lost HK$140,000. In June, a scammer contacted him on WhatsApp, claiming to have reached the wrong number and later posing as a financial back-end professional. After building a rapport, the scammer suggested investing in cryptocurrency, showing fake bank deposit slips as "proof" of returns.
Ray deposited HK$10,000, received a small profit, and was persuaded to invest more. When his bank blocked a suspicious transfer, he continued communicating with the scammer. Later, a fake platform showed a US$70,000 "profit," but "customer service" demanded a HK$130,000 "tax" payment for withdrawal. After paying, his account was frozen for "rat trading," requiring a HK$290,000 "guarantee" to unlock. It was only when the scammer offered to cover half that amount that Ray realized he had been deceived.
Ray hopes his experience will alert others to the sophisticated tactics used by fraudsters, emphasizing that even cautious individuals can be targeted.
