Police break up syndicate that ran online job scams in Hong Kong and Singapore, duping 430 people out of millions
- Authorities carry out synchronised raids in both places, arresting 14 people in Hong Kong and 23 suspects in Singapore
- The gang tricked the victims into making online purchases, promising commissions for raising profile of sites, with one nurse losing HK$950,000
In Hong Kong, officers rounded up 14 people – 12 men and two women – aged from 22 to 53 in a series of raids during the joint operation between June 16 and Friday, the force revealed on Tuesday. Two of the men were believed to be the ringleaders of the racket.
Singaporean police arrested 23 men and four women at the same time, including members of the syndicate accused of handling the proceeds of the crimes.
Hong Kong authorities launched an investigation after noticing a sharp rise in the number of internet job-related scams. Police handled 255 such cases in the first five months of the year, compared with 46 reports in the same period in 2020. Authorities recorded 236 cases for all of last year, and 66 in 2019.
The syndicate was believed to be behind more than 300 cases in Singapore that netted HK$19 million since May and 134 incidents in Hong Kong involving HK$9.13 million between January and June, according to Superintendent Cheung Man-chuen of the New Territories North regional crime unit.
According to the force, the syndicate took advantage of the worsened employment situation during the coronavirus pandemic to prey on job-hunters and people seeking part-time jobs.
The gang would place recruitment advertisements online to lure victims by offering them monetary rewards for e-shopping. The more transactions they completed the higher their financial gain, the syndicate told them. The victims were told the shopping helped to boost the popularity of the shopping platforms.
