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Leopold Chen

Hong Kong police will launch lucky draws with HK$3 million (US$385,311) worth of prizes to encourage residents to download an anti-scam app amid a surge in fraud cases, with an electric vehicle also up for grabs.
The force announced the plan this week to help its Scameter app gain traction, after reporting a 12 per cent year-on-year surge in the number of scam cases to more than 24,000 in the first seven months of 2024.
“Our app has been downloaded more than 570,000 times, but that falls behind our expectation as it is not even one-tenth of the Hong Kong population,” said Keith Yip Wan-lung, senior assistant commissioner and director of the crime and security department.
“We hope to leverage the lucky draw as an incentive, attracting more residents to download the app.”
More than 40,000 prizes will be handed out in a month-long campaign starting on October 1.
All prizes were sponsored by other parties, except 400 police anti-scam dolls, the force said.
The top prize will be a BYD Dolphin car with a tag price of HK$209,000. Others up for grabs include an Honor Magic 6 mobile phone worth HK$10,599 and 20,000 e-payment coupons at HK$10 each on WeChat Pay.
Residents must download Scameter and register with their identity cards to join the raffle. They will have multiple chances to win based on the tasks they complete.
“The more you use the app, the more chances you will get,” said Baron Chan Shun-ching, superintendent of the cybersecurity division.
First launched as a website in 2022 and turned into an app in 2023, Scameter aims to help users identify suspicious web links, mobile numbers and bank accounts.

When a link, a number or a bank account is entered, the app matches the input with the force’s database and tells users if it is likely to be associated with scams.
Hong Kong reported 24,407 scam cases in the first seven months of this year, 12 per cent more than during the same period in 2023.
Losses climbed to HK$5.14 billion, over 50 per cent more than in January to July last year.
More than 6,000 suspects had been arrested for scams or related activities this year, the force said.
Police attributed the growth to a sharp increase in phone deception cases, as 4,594 such reports were made between January and July, more than 2.4 times than during the same period last year.
Victims lost HK$1.82 billion in such scams, nearly five times the amount in the first seven months of last year.
Officers blamed the surge on the rise of customer service scams that emerged early this year and those in which fraudsters pretended to be government officials.
“In these [customer service] scams, fraudsters pose as customer service agents of online platforms and payment platforms, claiming victims have subscribed for paid services and pressing to charge [money] unless banking details are provided,” said Raymond Lam Cheuk-ho, chief superintendent of police’s cybersecurity and technology crime bureau.
Authorities have been requiring local phone number holders to register their identity for SIM cards since September 2021, in an attempt to tackle phone deception cases.
Lam said the measure was effective for identifying suspicious numbers, but police found some of the alleged scammers registered their numbers with false documents.
“We will keep cooperating [with other departments] and continue efforts to enforce in this area,” he said.


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Crime in Hong Kong

Hong Kong police launch lucky draws with HK$3 million in prizes to boost Scameter app downloads

Police senior assistant commissioner and director of crime and security Keith Yip (left) and Raymond Lam Cheuk-ho, chief superintendent of the cybersecurity and technology crime bureau. Photo: Sun Yeung

Chief Superintendent Raymond Lam says some alleged scammers have registered phone numbers using false documents. Photo: Sun Yeung

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

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

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

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News

Hong Kong

Law and Crime

Electric vehicle among prizes up for grabs, as force looks to encourage anti-scam app downloads to combat surge in fraud cases


Electric vehicle among prizes up for grabs, as force looks to encourage anti-scam app downloads to combat surge in fraud cases.
