Police arrest two men operating fake mobile cell tower in banking scam

Hong Kong police have arrested two men who drove around the city using a mobile fake base station to intercept cellular networks and send fraudulent banking messages, a swift operation that successfully prevented any financial losses.

The authorities apprehended the local men, aged 47 and 70, in the To Kwa Wan neighborhood on Thursday morning on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud. 

Officers intercepted their vehicle during an intelligence-led operation, discovering four mobile phones and an actively running illegal radio jammer inside the car. 

The confiscated equipment has since been handed over to the Office of the Communications Authority for further examination, and the two suspects remain in police custody for questioning.

The investigation was triggered earlier on Tuesday when five vigilant citizens reported receiving suspicious text messages purporting to be from their banks. 

The messages falsely claimed that the banking systems were undergoing upgrades and promised cash rebates to users who clicked on an enclosed link and updated their login credentials. 

The perpetrators deliberately used a hashtag prefix in the sender's name to mimic the official registered SMS channels used by legitimate institutions, attempting to trick victims into believing the communications were authentic.

Investigators from the Commercial Crime Bureau explained that the scammers exploited security vulnerabilities in older 2G network technology, which lacks two-way authentication. 

By emitting a powerful signal from their roaming vehicle, the fake base station forced nearby mobile phones to downgrade automatically from modern 4G or 5G connections to the 2G network. 

This allowed the criminals to bypass legitimate telecommunications operators and push the phishing messages directly to targeted devices.

Fortunately, the citizens who clicked the links noticed irregularities on the counterfeit login pages and alerted their banks, who immediately contacted law enforcement before any data was compromised.

Following the arrests, law enforcement officials urged the public to remain highly vigilant, particularly if their mobile network indicator suddenly drops to 2G right before receiving an unexpected text message. 

Authorities reminded residents never to click on unverified links and advised utilizing official verification channels, such as the police anti-scam application Scameter or the 18222 anti-deception hotline, to assess potential risks. 

Officials also issued a stern reminder that conspiracy to defraud is a severe criminal offense in Hong Kong, carrying a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment upon conviction.

 

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