customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

knowledgeQuestion

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Emily Hung

Hong Kong police have warned criminals are taking advantage of young residents in a wide range of cybercrime and deception activities, with more than 900 students falling victim to “naked-chat blackmail” and dating scams last year.
The figure was in sharp focus on Monday as the force launched the third edition of its crime prevention booklet for young people, with 50,000 copies to be distributed to schools and youth service centres.
Commissioner of Police Raymond Siu Chak-yee said cybercrime was on the rise globally as people increasingly went online for activities such as shopping, investing and dating.
“Cybercrime affects people of all ages, they not only fall prey to those crimes but are also used [by criminals] to aid those activities,” he said.
“But [police] have fewer opportunities to come in contact with young people compared with teachers, social workers and parents, so we need to work together to help deliver our knowledge and messages.”
The youngest victim of cybercrime was a nine-year-old girl who was found to have been videotaped having sex with a man after they met on a dating app.
Many cases of sexual exploitation also involved scamming victims.
Students were the largest group of victims of naked-chat blackmail. Police recorded 2,117 cases last year, with 443, or one-fifth, aimed at students.
In 2022, students accounted for 311, or 22 per cent, of all 1,402 naked-chat blackmail cases.
Among the incidents was one in which an 11-year-old girl was lured into naked chats with a man she met on an online board game platform. He then threatened to publish her photos online and asked for more nude images.

The city also logged at least 450 compensated dating cases that targeted students last year. The force did not provide the figure for 2022.
Such cases involve scammers posing as girls to offer sexual services. They ask victims to buy them game point cards or cryptocurrencies as a deposit, but disappear afterwards.
A 13-year-old boy in one of the latest cases was swindled out of HK$768 when he bought a game point card to exchange for dating services from a girl he met online.
Apart from being victims of cybersex crimes, young people were also found to be at risk of falling foul of the law.
In the first half of last year, 1,541 people aged below 21 were arrested, a dozen more than the same period last year but still lower than the 10-year average.
Police recorded a 10 to 30 per cent decline in the number of young people arrested for criminal damage, drug and triad offences, which Siu attributed to collective prevention efforts of police and other stakeholders.
But the number of youngsters arrested for deception, shoplifting and other thefts increased by 30 to 50 per cent.
Siu said police were concerned that deception cases continued to be the most prevalent among young people, with 288 people arrested in the first half of the year, a 30 per cent increase from 217 in the same period in 2023.
“In many cases, they rented out, lent or sold their bank accounts to syndicates to receive the proceeds of fraud, which means money laundering. I believe they were not aware of how serious this is,” he said.


He added that syndicates were also hiring young people to collect money from victims.
“Police have applied for heavier penalties in courts for [some] scam cases, hoping to achieve a stronger deterrent effect.”
As for the uptick in theft cases, Siu attributed the trend to some youngsters seeking out thrills and being lured in by the prospect of quick profit.
The force’s newly released booklet highlights five areas: online deception and deepfakes; online sex crimes; fraud and money laundering; theft; and robbery.
Police chose the five based on the recent trends of crimes committed by juveniles.
Each topic features real-life cases with court rulings and tips for parents and teachers to identify early warning signs and prevent children from getting involved in criminal activity.
The booklet urges parents to be vigilant if their children start hiding their whereabouts or receive a large sum of money, with suspicious transactions in their bank accounts also a possible warning sign.
Raymond Kong Ho-man from the Education University’s department of curriculum and instruction said frontline education workers needed training.
“Students are natives of the digital world, but we are just immigrants. If teachers cannot get hold of the latest trends in juvenile crime, they can hardly devise a targeted teaching strategy,” said Kong, who helped develop a separate set of bilingual crime prevention teaching materials.
He said one of the common misconceptions that had to be cleared up was that children would not be subject to serious consequences for criminal activity.


Hong Kong police warn cybercrime targeting children; city logs 900 ‘naked chat’, scam cases

‘No other choice’: Hong Kong police defend shooting armed man who attacked wife, mother

Wikipedia bans user for ‘alleged trolling, doxxing and intimidation’ of Hong Kong journalists

Man, 40, arrested over alleged sex offence in Hong Kong hospital toilet

Crime in Hong Kong

The city logged at least 450 compensated dating cases that targeted students last year. Photo: Shutterstock

From left: Raymond Kong Ho-man, Project Coordinator from the Education University of Hong Kong; Raymond Siu Chak-yee, Commissioner of Police, attend a presser about the launch of the Youth Crime Prevention Booklet (2024 Edition). The story is embargoed until September 16. 12SEP24. SCMP / Eugene Lee

Hong Kong girl, 13, tricked into giving HK$300,000 of gold, diamonds in duplication scam

Police say they notice fraud syndicates are trying to lure young people into scamming activities. Photo: Warton Li

More Hong Kong women being conned by ‘handsome’ fraudsters in dating scams: police

Police say they handled 47 compensated dating-related scams last week, including 10 victims who were women. Photo: Shutterstock

Police have also cautioned residents about potential scams exploiting the popularity of the Chinese video game Black Myth: Wukong. Photo: Sun Yeung

News

Hong Kong

Law and Crime

Nine-year-old girl videotaped having sex with man after meeting on app in one case, with police stepping up warnings over cybercrimes


Nine-year-old girl videotaped having sex with man after meeting on app in one case, with police stepping up warnings over cybercrimes.
