All CityU students required to fill out anti-fraud questionnaire

Cheng Wong

Starting next semester, all students at the City University will be required to fill out a fraud-prevention questionnaire before enrollment as at least 30 of its students were scammed last year.

CityU provost and deputy president Lee Chun-sing said at yesterday's spring media luncheon that the institute supported the idea of granting visas after prospective students completed the fraud-prevention questionnaire.

Regarding the more than 30 of its students who reported to have been scammed last year to the tune of HK$15 million, Lee said the university did not consider the proportion of scammed students to be particularly high.

He noted the school had been collaborating with local and mainland telecom providers to use artificial intelligence to intercept calls from suspected scammers, adding that a local telecom provider had promised to block suspicious numbers when necessary.

"As far as I know, the number of scammed students is quite average, with no specific university having a significantly higher rate," said Lee.

He also indicated that many mainland students would apply for the 1-Card-2-Number service to manage calls and messages from Hong Kong and the mainland with just one SIM card.

But Lee warned that telecom providers often issue consecutive numbers to different applicants, making it easier for scammers to identify students.

He suggested the companies avoid providing consecutive numbers.

"With all the proactive measures taken, including the use of AI and efforts in issuing phone numbers, the situation should improve significantly next year," he said.