Anti-scam student drive

Stacy Shi

Hong Kong police are collaborating with mainland authorities to consider extra requirements for students from across the border intending to study in the city, according to a source.

Prospective students would need to complete a fraud-prevention questionnaire prior to being granted visas.

The initiative aims to safeguard students and prevent them from falling victim to fraud and scams after they arrive in Hong Kong.

The source indicated that relevant discussions are still in their nascent stage, but the measure is considered effective against current serious fraudulent cases involving mainland students.

The University of Hong Kong is urging students to complete anti-scam questionnaires provided by police to boost awareness-and-prevention measures.

The push came after more than 60 students reported falling victim to scams, suffering a staggering loss of HK$60 million over the past few months, according to an e-mail sent to social science students.

It is understood that most victims are from the mainland, who lost an average of HK$1 million each.

HKU has mandated all students, both local and nonlocal, to complete the questionnaire on the e-learning platform by February 10 or risk being restricted from accessing the libraries or the Chi Wah Learning Commons.

The questionnaire consists of 31 multiple-choice questions and takes just a few minutes to complete.

One-third of questions relate to romance investment scams and nine questions concern telephone scams.

The remaining questions include three designed to assess students' understanding of online shopping scams and seven to test their awareness of the police's Anti-Deception Coordination Centre and Scameter.

The questionnaire also features links to a WeChat group for obtaining fraud prevention information.

"Your participation is instrumental in protecting both yourself and the HKU community as incidents of scams continue to escalate," the e-mail said.

Some mainland students at HKU, however, have raised doubts regarding the necessity of completing the questionnaire and its connection to accessing the libraries.

A student surnamed Zhang said: "I am not worried about being scammed, but I'm not sure if there's a necessary connection between filling out the questionnaire and using the library. However, I'll do my best to cooperate."

Another student surnamed Chen said those being scammed were individual cases and that "binding completion of the questionnaire to library access or graduation is a bit of a stretch."

The university also reminded students to file a police report if they are unsure if a call is fraudulent, with the university providing additional assistance.

It is understood that similar measures were introduced by Polytechnic University last year, when students could only receive their student cards upon completing a fraud-prevention questionnaire.

Police noted that the measure has achieved remarkable results and hope that all institutions which admit mainland students will follow suit, sources said.

City University has also required students to fill out a fraud-prevention questionnaire at the start of the new semester this year after more than 30 of its students reported being scammed last year to the tune of HK$15 million in total.

CityU said it has been working closely with police and that it established an inter-departmental working group to keep a close eye on related issues, such as reminding students to beware of fraudulent messages through e-mails, posters and leaflets.

stacy.shi@singtaonewscorp.com