Residents have been advised to check suspicious links using the police’s Scameter search engine, which can be accessed via the CyberDefender website and is available as an app.
SCMPOnline Fraudsters have defrauded Hong Kong residents of more than HK$200 million (US$25.7 million) in a week last month, in one case using artificial intelligence (AI) to trick a victim into transferring HK$145 million.
Police said the victim, a trader, wanted to buy cryptocurrency mining equipment used to create digital tokens.
The victim allegedly discussed the purchase with a mainland Chinese company via the WhatsApp messaging app.
“During the negotiations, the trader received what appeared to be WhatsApp voice messages from the company’s finance manager,” police said.
“Following the instructions, the victim transferred approximately HK$145 million worth of USDT cryptocurrency to a cryptocurrency wallet designated three times.”
The victim later realized the transactions were part of a scam and filed a police report.
