Hong Kong police warned against WhatsApp account hijackers who pose as family and friends to scam

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Hong Kong police have alerted the public on Friday about the WhatsApp scams in which at least 25 residents have fallen victim.

The scammers hijacked the victim's relatives, colleagues and friends' WhatsApp account to perform their fraudulent acts. A total of over HK$800,000 was lost by the victims in just a week, police posted on its CyberDefender Facebook page on Friday afternoon.

Police said the fraudsters target the victims' WhatsApp accounts and pose as relatives and friends after they create different excuses to trick them into giving out their account verification codes.

Thereafter, the fraudsters will send messages to claim an urgent need for business funds, payment of insurance fees or buying gifts for family members, and request the victims to transfer money into a given bank account, the police revealed.

The victims will later notice that they had been duped after making contact with the real account users.

The residents were therefore warned by the police to remain vigilant while receiving any requests for money transfers or financial help from anyone. And if they are in any doubt, the public should call the Anti-Scam Helpline at 18222.

香港警方警告WhatsApp帳戶劫持者冒充家人和朋友進行詐騙

香港警方周五就 WhatsApp 詐騙事件向公眾發出警報，至少有 25 名居民成為受害者。

詐騙者劫持受害人親屬、同事和朋友的WhatsApp賬戶進行詐騙行為。 警方周五下午在其 Cyber​​Defender Facebook 頁面上發布消息稱，受害者在短短一周內損失總計超過 80 萬港元。

警方表示，詐騙分子以受害者的 WhatsApp 賬戶為目標，並以親友身份編造各種藉口，誘騙受害人提供賬戶驗證碼。

警方透露，此後，詐騙分子會發送短信，要求受害人急需營業資金、支付保險費或為家人購買禮物，並要求受害人將錢轉入指定銀行賬戶。

受害者在與真實賬戶用戶聯繫後會發現自己被騙了。

因此，警方警告居民在收到任何人的匯款或經濟幫助請求時要保持警惕。 如果公眾有任何疑問，請撥打反詐騙熱線 18222。