Hong Kong cybercrime: ‘pretty girls and strange uncles’ target youngsters spending more time online during pandemic
- Tech savvy youngsters who socialise, play and study online increasingly know danger signs to look out for
- But with growing reports of online crime, experts say young still need help understanding online threats
Henry Huang Qihao learned a lesson in Form One that he never forgot: beware of strangers you befriend online.
A gamer he met over the internet tricked him into sharing his game account and password, then locked him out and demanded a HK$500 (US$64) ransom.
Although he had more than HK$1,000 worth of in-game purchases, Huang refused to pay up, but did not tell his parents or report to the police.
So when a girl he befriended on a social app in March this year began pestering him for money within a week, Huang, now 17, spotted trouble immediately.
He deleted her contact and dumped the app as well.
“I have learned to be watchful,” says Huang, a Form Five student of Hong Kong Teachers’ Association Lee Heng Kwei Secondary School in Tai Po, who lives with his mother, a 44-year-old restaurant worker, and sister, 21.
