Hong Kong police have logged a 60 per cent rise in telephone scams during the first seven months of 2022, when compared with the same period last year. There was a significant increase in fraudsters pretending to be health authority staff, with one health official saying the issue could affect anti-epidemic efforts.
Senior Superintendent Eileen Chung said during a Wednesday press conference that a total of 956 cases of telephone fraud were reported to the police between January and July this year. The cases had led to combined losses of HK$470 million.
Around 60 per cent of the reported scams involved the impersonation of government officials, Chung said, adding that the victims of these cases had lost a total of HK$450 million.
Since February, Chung said they noted how scammers had pretended to be calling from the Department of Health or the Centre for Health Protection. She said they would claim that their victims had tested positive for Covid-19, or were in violation of related policies, whilst asking for their personal data, bank accounts and passwords.
“[They] fully understand people’s psychological weaknesses in worrying about the pandemic, and will therefore lure them to fall victim to their scams,” Chung said.
Chung said the force solved 386 cases in an operation carried out between August 21 and Sunday. In all, 173 people…
