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Scams and swindles

Scams and swindles
The latest news, analysis and opinion on Scams and swindles. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
The last of the six Hong Kong residents rescued from a scam farm in Myanmar have been returned to the city. Photo: Facebook/Security Bureau
Mainland China

Editorial | Raise alert on risk of Asian cross-border scams

Regional cooperation has been key to securing the release of 25 out of 28 Hongkongers detained in Southeast Asian fraud farms.

Crime in Hong Kong

Hong Kong prisons officer charged with fraud over HK$1.5 million in loans

Trending in China

China actor expresses concern over AI scams impersonating him, seeks tougher laws

Banking & finance

Hong Kong fights back against rising scams with ‘despicable banana’

The HKMA launched the first video in a new public awareness series titled ‘Click the Links, Fall for Scams!’ featuring a ‘despicable banana’.

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A video showing the “despicable banana”, a new villainous mascot representing online scammers, has been released by the HKMA. Image: HKMA
The Philippines

Philippines investigates possible revival of ‘planted bullet’ scam at airports

Three employees at Manila’s main airport relieved of their posts after passenger says they falsely claimed she had a bullet in her luggage.

Trending in China

China manager creates 22 fake staff with perfect attendance, embezzles US$2.2 million

Scamming human resources manager in charge of payroll creates bogus employment records, ordered to reimburse pilfered salary pay.

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Crime in Hong Kong

Last of 6 Hongkongers recently freed from scam farm in Myanmar returns home

Security Bureau vows to save the three remaining residents on its list in bid to crack down on forced-labour scams in Southeast Asia.

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Five of the latest batch of Hongkongers to be freed returned home on Friday. Photo: Facebook/Security Bureau
Trending in China

36 men in China buy ‘love nest’ only to discover they have same lover

‘Tender, virtuous, family-orientated’ flat-buying scammer lures ‘careless’ men into honey trap by appearing to be ‘perfect girlfriend’.

Crime in Hong Kong

6 scam farm captives to return to Hong Kong after rescue

Security chief Chris Tang says three men and three women, aged 29 to 44, had been illegally detained for five to seven months.

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Trending in China

China online shops sell ‘wealth bringing’ soil from outside top banks for US$120

Bizarre product dug up from outside some of country’s major banks, sales representative claims dirt dissolves ‘bad energy’.

Online shops in China are selling soil dug up from outside major banks for up to US$122 a bag, claiming that it will bring good fortune to those who buy it. Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock/The Paper/Douyin
Thailand

More Chinese scam workers repatriated via Thailand as fraud crackdown continues

Dozens of apparent Chinese scam workers seen boarding a China Southern jet at Mae Sot airport on Thursday, with more flights over the weekend.

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People from China, Vietnam, Ethiopia and other countries believed to have been trafficked and trapped into working in online scam centres, after they were rescued in Myawaddy district in eastern Myanmar, on February 26. Photo: AP
Malaysia

Scammer takes Malaysian man for US$542,000 ride in Lamborghini fraud

The businessman made multiple payments to the suspect who later fled, leaving him with no car.

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Singapore

Singapore to consider caning as punishment for serious scam offences

Home affairs minister says caning is a possibility, given how harmful scams are.

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Malaysia

Why is Kuala Lumpur International Airport back in the corruption spotlight?

The journalist was arrested a week after he published a story about an alleged trafficking operation being run out of KLIA.

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A man looks at Malaysia Airlines’ aircraft parked on the tarmac at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang on February 25, 2016. Photo: AFP
Cambodia

Cambodia returns 119 Thais in crackdown on cyberscam centres

Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia have ramped up efforts to curb a cyberscam industry worth billions of dollars a year.

Victims of scam centres who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar, at a compound inside the KK Park, a fraud factory and a human trafficking hub on the Thailand-Myanmar border, on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters
Indonesia

84 Indonesians trafficked to Myanmar scam centres return home

Thousands of Indonesians have been enticed abroad for better-paying jobs, only to end up in the hands of transnational scam operators.

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Crime in Hong Kong

Scammers target Hong Kong school staff, with 1 victim losing HK$130,000

Force says it recorded more than 10 cases of scammers preying on school employees in February.

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Thailand

My Take | Why Thailand’s soft power splash is out of step with reality

Move to promote soft power at odds with perceptions that Thailand is not doing enough to tackle scam centres along Thai-Myanmar border.

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Tourists pose for photos at Erawan Shrine at Bangkok, Thailand. Photo: Sam Tsang
Myanmar

‘I can finally escape this hell’: Myanmar scam workers desperate to go home

About 7,000 people endure heat and mosquito bites at a squalid camp in Myawaddy as repatriation process slows.

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Malaysia

Scam kingpin holds China, Turkey passports, bought 8 condos in Malaysia: police

The head of an international scam ring that targeted online gamers from China was arrested during raids in Kuala Lumpur.

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The Philippines

Philippine police rescue Chinese student whose finger was cut off by kidnappers

The kidnappers, who included former Filipino police officers and soldiers, abandoned the 14-year-old student in a busy street in Manila.

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Filipino Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla points to a finger when referring to which finger of the Chinese student was cut off after being kidnapped by a Chinese-led gang, in at a press briefing in Manila. Photo: AP
Crime in Hong Kong

Trio arrested as Hong Kong cracks down on Kai Tak Sports Park ticket touts

Opening ceremony tickets worth HK$10 on sale for up to HK$2,000.

An aerial view of Kai Tak Sports Park main stadium. Photo: Eugene Lee
Singapore

Singaporeans lost record US$822 million to scams in 2024

Police said cryptocurrency schemes made up nearly a quarter of the losses.

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The Philippines

More Pogo raids stoke fears about a ‘cottage industry’ of scam activities

Analysts warned that the Philippines might fester a “cottage industry” of crimes linked to offshore gaming operators if authorities cannot eradicate them entirely.

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Hong Kong society

Hong Kong vows to tackle ticket scalping for Kai Tak Sports Park opening show

Authorities contact police after tickets for March 1 opening ceremony reportedly being sold online for as much as HK$1,800.

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Fans at Kai Tak Stadium during an earlier test event. Photo: Elson Li
United States

Woman drugged, robbed elderly men in deadly ‘romance scam on steroids’: FBI

After sedating her victims found on dating apps, Aurora Phelps stole their cars and used their credit cards to buy luxury goods.

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Acting US attorney for the District of Nevada Sue Fahami speaks about the romance scam during a news conference in Las Vegas on February 21. Photo: AP
Malaysia

In the battle against scams, Malaysians are now armed with a chatbot

Scammers on Hold AI aims to keep potential fraudsters engaged as long as possible and to annoy them to the point of giving up.

The Philippines

5 Chinese bosses among 450 arrested in Philippine scam farm raid

The offshore gaming operator targeted victims in China and India with sports betting and investment schemes.

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