A recent phone scam that cost the victim $200 million has become the talk of town, while reminding us of the fact that phone scams are still very common in Hong Kong.
Nowadays, most of us, especially teenagers, prefer texting and social media over phone calls and other means of communication. As such, more attention is paid to online shopping frauds, investment scams on social media, or fraudulent websites and emails; while traditional phone scams have become overlooked. Phone scammers are still very active. In 2020, the police received 1,193 reported cases of phone scams – a year-on-year increase of over 80%, with monetary losses up 2.8 times or increased by $420 million.
Impersonation of officials is a common tactic in phone scams. Much like the said $200 million scam in which conmen impersonated Mainland officials. They also take on other identities. During the pandemic, for instance, they would pose as representatives of the Department of Health, making pre-recorded voice calls to request people to pack their belongings to go into quarantine facilities. Last year, fraudsters used the government’s $10,000 cash payout scheme as cover to con people into providing personal particulars, such as online banking login details and passwords, in an attempt to later transfer money from the victims’ accounts. Other common impersonation scams include bank officer or courier imposters.
Another common tactic is the “Guess Who” phone scam in which the scammers would make random calls, asking the receiver to guess who they are and probe into the names of their friends/relatives; the fraudsters will then impersonate these friends/relatives to ask for money further down the road.
Beware of unknown callers!
We have always told to hang up on strangers and never to provide our personal information, especially our bank or investment account numbers and passwords over the phone. Do note that government officials, policemen and bank employees will never request for your bank account passwords.
As elderlies are likely targets for phone scammers, we should pay special attention and be sure to explain to them the tricks used by scammers to prevent them from falling prey.
Read more: Avoid telephone scams
