Online shopping has become common in recent years, but online shopping scams are also on the rise. The police regularly launch anti-online shopping scam operations code-named "Tiejiang".
In the past month, the Cyber Crime Division and various police districts have detected 354 online shopping fraud cases involving 2.8 million yuan, and arrested 80 men and women on suspicion of "conspiracy to defraud" or "acquisition of property by deception." .
The police revealed that of the 354 scams, several large scam groups were seen in them, and the others involved individual scammers. Whether they are related will be one of the directions of investigation.
Senior Inspector of Crime Squad of West Kowloon Region He Xikang (left) and Chief Inspector of Cyber Security and Technology Crime Investigation Division Tsang Xuanting (right) explained the facts of the case.
(Photo by Chen Haoran)
The Chief Inspector of the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Investigation Division, Zeng Xuanting, explained the facts of the case. From January to November this year, the police received a total of 5,296 reports of online shopping scams, and the victims had accumulated losses of HK$36 million.
In order to continue to effectively combat online shopping fraud, the police has formulated a series of strategies, including regular anti-online shopping fraud operations code-named "Tiejiang".
The Cybercrime Division and various police districts conducted the fourth wave of operation "Iron General" this year from November 24 to December 30.
During the operation, the police detected a total of 354 online shopping fraud cases, which occurred between December 2018 and December this year. The total amount involved was 2.8 million yuan, and they were suspected of "conspiracy to defraud" or "acquisition of property by deception." 80 people were arrested for the crime, including 45 men and 35 women, aged between 15 and 59. A number of mobile phones, laptop computers and bank ATM cards were also seized.
Among the 354 cases detected by the police, the Cyber Crime Division broke down in mid-October this year, which was actually an online shopping scam in the name of selling designer handbags.
Zeng Xuanting pointed out that online shopping is becoming more and more common. At the same time, scammers are also taking advantage of the opportunity to pretend to be online shops or purchasing agents to cheat online. People should be more careful when shopping online.
The scammers mostly promote some popular products on social platforms, and then use the excuses of lower than the market price or limited time offer to lure the victim to pay. In the end, the victim cannot receive the goods and can no longer contact the scammer.
Scammers charge "retention fee" and the victim loses 760,000 yuan
The Senior Inspector of the Regional Crime Squad of West Kowloon Region, He Xikang, pointed out that the Regional Crime Squad of West Kowloon has successfully detected a number of online shopping fraud cases from June last year to December this year, involving a total of 940,000 yuan.
He Xikang continued that the investigation found that scammers falsely claimed to have theme park tickets or selling popular electronic products as low as half the price on the Internet, they would also charge a "retention fee" as a deposit to buy more affordable electronic products.
The scammer claimed that the "retention fee" would be refunded to the victim after the transaction, and the victim would not be guilty of fraud. After the scammer's instructions were to transfer the money to the other party's account through the "FPS", the scammer would use different excuses to postpone Settlement, even lost contact.
The highest loss was as high as 760,000.
(Photo by Chen Haoran)
The police investigation found that the social media accounts used by the scammers have the following characteristics:
1. The scammer’s account has not been activated for a long time, but it has been renamed several times in a short period of time to cover people’s eyes and eyes and avoid being discovered that they have been scammed;
2. The scammer
’s account has been activated.
Most of the product pictures provided were not taken by themselves, and they were downloaded from the Internet, pretending to be the products of their store;
3. After the fraudster’s account has been operating for a period of time, the message will be restricted, and the message area will even be closed so that the victim cannot Leave a message to remind others.
The police remind citizens when shopping online, if they pay attention to the social media accounts used by the other party have the above three characteristics, they must "stop, stop and study," and consider whether the other party is a reliable merchant.
Citizens should go to reputable merchants or go to the official website to shop as much as possible. They can also choose cash on delivery or in-person delivery during transactions. The records of the counterparty should also be kept after the transaction.
The police appealed to anyone who commits or participates in an online shopping fraud case to have the opportunity to commit the crime of "conspiracy to defraud" or "acquisition of property by deception".
If you borrow or sell your bank account to others, you may also have the opportunity to commit the crime of "money laundering."
If members of the public have any questions, they can call the 24-hour "Anti-fraud 18222" hotline to contact the staff of the Anti-fraud Coordination Center.
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