Generally speaking, Hong Kong is a relatively safe place to live in whether you’re a local or an expat. However, there are certain cases which are more common locally than others, and in contrast to other countries to which Hong Kong is being compared to such as Singapore and China.
And with the current power of technology nowadays, it’s not surprising to note anymore the various kinds of scams and deceptions that syndicates and malicious individuals do to take advantage of others.
Deception Cases Increase Despite Drop in Overall Crime Rates in HK
According to Secretary for Security John Lee, the police will have to heighten its vigilance and campaign against scam and deception cases, which have seen an increase by 18% annually to 8,372 from last year, as shared in a report by news.gov.hk.
In a statement with the press after the Fight Crime Committee meeting, Mr. Lee shared that there has been an accretion in social media, e-mail, as well as investment scams.
According to government data, social media deception cases significantly went up (94%) to 2,064, accruing HKD 500 million in losses.
2018 saw a total of 212 cases of investment scams, amounting to HKD 1.77 billion in losses.
Despite the drop in the overall crime rates in Hong Kong last year tallying 54,225 cases – down by 3.2% from 2017, the significant increase in scams and deceptions overshadowed the drop in several cases such as theft, arson, burglary, serious drugs offences and robbery. However, homicide cases also saw an increase in 2018, as per government data.
For us, we just need to be more vigilant about current scams that take over the internet and be conscious enough to report such cases to authorities. By constantly equipping ourselves with information, we can protect ourselves from cases that involve manipulation and deception, and ultimately spare ourselves from damages that might result from being victimized in these situations.