Police warning over jump in ‘guess who I am’ phone scam cases in Hong Kong
- Police alert comes after two men arrested in connection with alleged phone frauds totalling HK$500,000
- Officer says 38 cases in Tseung Kwan O alone between July and September, a 12-fold increase from three recorded during same period last year
Police on Friday warned of a surge in “guess who I am” phone scams after two Hong Kong men were arrested on suspicion of obtaining a total of HK$500,000 (US$63,694) by deception.
Inspector Lui Long-ching of the force said that 38 fraud cases involving a total of HK$2.5 million had been reported from July to September in Tseung Kwan O alone, up from the three logged during the same period in 2021, a 12-fold increase.
Fraudsters use a variety of tricks to gain people’s trust, including asking the victims to guess the caller’s identity or claiming to be their boss.
“Fraudsters will pretend to be the children or relatives of the victims and claim they need a lot of money under different excuses, such as being in need of bail money after being arrested by the police or public security agents,” Lui explained.
“Police are highly concerned about this type of scam as the swindlers are taking advantage of the victim’s love for their children and relatives to defraud their life savings. Their behaviour is outrageous.”
The warning came after police on Thursday arrested a 20-year-old man in Mong Kok and a 23-year-old man in Tsing Yi on suspicion of obtaining property by deception.
