New scams in Hong Kong should prompt fresh vigilance

Despite public education campaigns, enhanced institutional security safeguards and crackdowns by local and cross-border law enforcement agencies, victims continue to fall for scams for different reasons.

Credit goes to the Hong Kong and Macau police for busting an investment scheme that allegedly conned over 200 people out of more than HK$100 million (US$12.75 million) in total by promoting itself as a pioneer of “kinetic coffee philosophy”. As of Monday, local authorities had arrested six people on conspiracy to defraud charges based on 225 complaints involving investments ranging from HK$3,000 to HK$9.63 million. Macau police also arrested two women on fraud charges after receiving nine complaints involving losses of about 3.6 million patacas (US$445,676).

It does not take an expert to tell that the scheme was too good to be true. Boasting of assets of over US$1 billion and a team of more than 5,000 behind an investment enterprise in Phu Quoc, Vietnam, Fun Coffee lured people to invest using virtual currency on its app, promising annual returns of 197 to 278 per cent for projects involving hi-tech coffee equipment, genetic optimisation and smart irrigation systems.

As is typical in such scams, some victims received small returns early on and pumped in more money in the hope of better gains. Many also knew little about the company’s background and project operations. The company held investment briefings, social gatherings and community events, including a jogging event in West Kowloon involving a television celebrity.

Over the past few years, police have rightly stepped up efforts to combat deception. Last year, the number of cases fell slightly by 2.9 per cent from 2024 – the first decline following consecutive annual rises since 2019. However, the number of cases was still disturbingly high at 43,212. Monetary losses decreased from about HK$9.2 billion in 2023 to HK$8.1 billion in 2025, a decline of 11.3 per cent.