Police warn of online shopping scams after victim loses $500,000 in fuel card fraud

Hong Kong police have warned of a surge in online shopping scams after recording more than 200 cases over the past week, with total losses exceeding HK$13 million, including one victim who was defrauded of HK$500,000 in a fake fuel discount scheme.

In a post on its CyberDefender Facebook page on Wednesday, police said the victim received an unsolicited WhatsApp message from someone claiming to be an employee of an oil company offering gasoline top-up discount cards.

Having used similar discount cards before, the victim did not suspect fraud. The scammers then offered larger discounts for bulk purchases, prompting the victim to make more than 10 transfers to multiple unknown personal bank accounts over a period of one and a half months.

The victim only realized he had been scammed after failing to receive the physical fuel cards and being asked to pay so-called “personal income tax.”

Police urged the public to contact companies only through official customer service channels and to ignore suspicious messages from unknown sources.

Residents were also advised to remain alert to offers that appear too good to be true and to requests for repeated or urgent transfers.

Police said members of the public should not disclose sensitive personal information or security passwords to individuals claiming to be “internal staff,” and encouraged the use of the Scameter website or mobile app to assess risks before making payments. They added that transactions should be terminated immediately if anything appears suspicious.