Hong Kong police recovers HK$4 millions from internet scams

Hong Kong police have apprehended 10 suspects and intercepted HK$4 million (US$509,600) in scammed money linked to seven online deception cases involving HK$31 million and 52 victims.

The force on Tuesday said most of the suspects were holders of bank accounts used to collect the money and launder the illegal crime proceeds. Detectives from the Tsuen Wan criminal units arrested the eight men and two women in a series of raids on Sunday and Monday. The suspects, aged between 19 and 60, were arrested on suspicion of money laundering and obtaining property by fraud. “The investigation suggested the suspects were linked to seven deception cases in which 52 victims, aged 21 to 63, were duped out of HK$31 million in total,” police said.

During the operation, officers seize HK$4 million of the money lost. According to the force, the deception cases included an investment fraud, internet love scam, online employment ruse and e-shopping scam. During the two-day operation code-named “Skymirror”, officers also seized mobile phones, bank cards and related documents. All the suspects have been released on bail pending further investigation. They are required to report back to police next month. In another news, a 52-year-old woman lost HK$3.53 million after being coaxed by her bogus online lover to set up an account on a fraudulent gambling website last month. Between March 8 and 30, she was lured into transferring the money into several designated bank accounts as her “gaming principle” to gamble in the fake online casino, according to police.

She realised it was a scam when she was unable to retrieve the money. The woman called police earlier this month. So far, no arrests have been made. In Hong Kong, money laundering is punishable by up to 14 years in jail and a HK$5 million fine while the offence of obtaining property by deception carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

Last year, police handled 27,923 deception cases adding up to HK$4.8 billion in swindled money. More than 70 per cent of last year’s deception cases were internet related, with 22,797 reports of technology crime resulting in losses of HK$3.2 billion. Phone scammers cheated victims out of more than HK$1 billion in 2,831 cases.

香港警方從網絡詐騙中追回 400 萬港元

香港警方逮捕了 10 名嫌疑人，並截獲了 400 萬港元（509,600 美元）的詐騙資金，涉及 7 起網絡詐騙案件，涉及 3100 萬港元和 52 名受害者。

該部隊週二表示，大多數嫌疑人持有用於收款和洗錢非法犯罪所得的銀行賬戶。 週日和周一，荃灣刑事部門的偵探在一系列突擊行動中逮捕了這八名男子和兩名女子。

嫌犯年齡介乎19至60歲，因涉嫌洗黑錢及詐騙財物罪被捕。 警方表示：“調查顯示，嫌疑人與 7 起詐騙案件有關，其中 52 名年齡在 21 歲至 63 歲之間的受害人被騙了 3100 萬港元。”

行動中，人員從丟失的錢款中檢獲400萬港元。 警方表示，詐騙案件包括投資詐騙、網戀詐騙、網上就業詐騙和網上購物詐騙。 在為期兩天的代號為“天鏡”的行動中，警方還查獲了手機、銀行卡和相關文件。

所有嫌疑人已被保釋候查。 他們必須在下個月向警方報到。

另一則消息，一名52歲的女子上個月被假冒的網上情人誘騙在一家欺詐性賭博網站開設賬戶後，損失了353萬港元。

據警方稱，在 3 月 8 日至 30 日期間，她被誘騙將錢轉入幾個指定的銀行賬戶，作為她的“遊戲原則”，在假網上賭場賭博。

當她無法取回錢時，她意識到這是一個騙局。 這名女子本月早些時候報了警。 到目前為止，還沒有逮捕任何人。

在香港，洗錢最高可判處 14 年監禁和 500 萬港元罰款，而以欺騙手段獲取財產罪最高可判處 10 年監禁。

去年，警方共處理了27,923宗詐騙案件，受騙金額達48億港元。 去年超過 70% 的詐騙案件與互聯網有關，涉及 22,797 起技術犯罪報告，造成 32 億港元的損失。 電話詐騙者在 2,831 起案件中騙取了超過 10 億港元。