According to Chan, there have been six similar incidents in Hong Kong so far this year, causing damages of more than HK$8 million (US$1 million).
The emergence of recovery scams has contributed to the rise in online fraud cases in the city.
Police data showed that there were 7,596 technology crime cases from January to March this year, up 3.2% from 7,361 cases in the same period last year. Total losses in the first quarter soared to HK$1.62 billion, a staggering 94.2% increase from HK$830 million in the same period last year.
The force took down 8,077 fake websites and Facebook pages during its online patrols last year.
Chan said most types of online fraud have declined this year, but investment fraud and account takeover have increased, causing losses to soar.
In the first three months of this year, 979 cases of online investment scams were reported, up 55.2% from 631 cases in the same period in 2023. Losses surged 128.4% to HK$690 million from HK$300 million in the same period last year.
Online account hijacking also increased more than tenfold, from 85 cases in the first quarter of 2023 to 915 cases in the same period this year, which Chan attributes to an increase in such scams at the end of last year. Losses from January to March this year amounted to HK$27 million.
The bureau’s Chief Inspector Felton Leung Eat-tak said scammers were designing fake websites to appear at the top of search results for related keywords such as “scam” and “fraud victim recovery”.
“When victims get in touch with these scammers, they are directed to an online consultation on a messaging app. The scammers obtain information about the initial scam, such as the amount of the loss, as well as chat and transaction records, before claiming to investigate the case,” Leong said.
However, these fake experts would redirect victims to lottery websites, telling them they could only recover their funds by winning on the fake platform, and would also charge a service fee.
One of the victims was a self-employed man in his 50s surnamed Chan, who lost more than HK$600,000 to an online shopping scam in July last year after coming across an advert on Facebook promoting a fake refund service.
Chan was soon directed to a Macau lottery website, where he initially won thousands of dollars playing online games on the platform and then deposited the winnings into his bank account.
“[The scammers] “They told me this was a technology they had invented and that to recover my lost funds I had to keep pouring money into the accounts they had opened and playing online games,” Chang recalled.
“It felt real. Cash was flowing into my bank account.”
But Chan’s hopes were quickly dashed when bank officials told him no “technology” was involved in the transaction and that he had unknowingly handed over his account details to the fraudsters.
When the man subsequently tried to withdraw money from the lottery platform, he was asked to pay a “fine”, resulting in Chan losing more than HK$210,000 to the scam.
Police clinical psychologist Michael von Hawkin said people who had been the victim of one scam were more likely to fall victim to further fraud.
“Their losses have not only been financial, but they have also suffered great emotional pain,” Fong said. “They are wondering why they were stupid enough to be deceived” and feel a sense of urgency to get their money back to make up for the humiliation, he added.
Leong urged residents to be skeptical of information obtained from the internet, check for typos and inconsistencies between traditional and simplified characters on websites, and be cautious when speaking to unknown online sources about their experiences with scams.
Lawyer Eric Chan Pak-ho, who runs his own law firm CPH Legal, said asset recovery services exist in the form of civil lawsuits, where victims may be advised to freeze their bank accounts to prevent further transfers, ask banks to reimburse them for losses, or sue the owners of accounts into which the fraudulent funds were deposited.
He added that victims of scams are better off directly contacting lawyers and law firms listed on the Hong Kong Bar Association’s website.
