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TOPIC

Scams and swindles

Scams and swindles
The latest news, analysis and opinion on Scams and swindles. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
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China Personalities

Profile | China big eater star Li Hangze admits to 35 million fans she is a man in disguise

Langweixian, above, presents herself as a woman and communicates in a feminine manner but her baritone voice has led many to speculate about her true gender for years. Photo: SCMP composite/Douyin

Hong Kong Economy

Hong Kong group ‘will not sign Panama deal next week’, Beijing to launch probe

The sale of CK Hutchison’s two ports at each end of the Panama Canal were part of a US$23 billion deal that will leave the company pocketing US$19 billion in cash. Photo: Reuters

China

China finds gold jackpot, US ‘has lost its way’: SCMP daily highlights

China may have found two massive deposits of gold using advanced technology. Photo: Shutterstock

Politics

Trump’s immigration crackdown hits Filipino green card holder, sparking fears

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A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer talks to a group of undocumented immigrants detained in Kansas. Photo: TNS

Trending in China

China schoolboy slapped 9 times for disrespect after addressing teacher by name

A primary schoolboy in China was slapped in the face nine times for “disrespecting” a teacher, sparking a fierce deabte on social media. Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock
Japanese police are proposing ATM withdrawal and transfer limits for elderly users to curb a surge in fraud cases. Photo: Xinhua
Japan

Japan police propose ATM curbs for elderly to combat fraud

The plan calls for a daily withdrawal or transfer limit of almost US$2,000 via ATMs for bank accounts belonging to those aged 75 and above.

Trending in China

China woman swaps locks on 80 flats, sells them for US$3.3 million to con friends

Crime in Hong Kong

Hong Kong in talks with banks on how to freeze scam-linked accounts more swiftly

Thailand

Chinese couple linked to cryptocurrency scam, kidnapping arrested in Thailand

Thai police arrested a Chinese woman in connection to the scam, while discovering her fugitive boyfriend was wanted for kidnapping in China.

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Thai police announced the arrest of a 27-year-old Chinese national, in connection with a series of cryptocurrency frauds. Photo: Handout
Crime in Hong Kong

Director of wedding ring business arrested in Hong Kong over incomplete orders

Source names company as now-closed Mary5ive, which had branches in Macau and Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui and Hung Hom.

Crime in Hong Kong

Hong Kong anti-corruption agency arrests 22 over HK$2 million mortgage fee fraud

Eighteen bank staff among those accused of taking bribes from intermediary to defraud institution of referral fees in mortgage loan applications.

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Indonesia

Indonesia to bring home hundreds more scam trafficking victims from Myanmar

The United Nations estimates that as many as 120,000 people have been forced to work in Myanmar’s scam hubs against their will.

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Thai soldiers in Mae Sot provide security for Indonesian nationals who are set to be repatriated after being forced to work at scam centres in eastern Myanmar. Photo: AP
Crime in Hong Kong

Hong Kong police arrest 6 linked to phone scam gang operating for months

Suspects, aged 23 to 44, arrested in raids as officers warn schools to be on their guard against scammers after janitors caught out.

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

Jivcons Man, 49, accused of deceiving credit union and three financial institutions into granting him 17 loans.

A 49-year-old correctional services officer in Hong Kong has been accused of deceiving a credit union and three financial intuitions. Photo: Jelly Tse
Trending in China

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

One victim plans to travel 2,000km to meet fake Jin while another almost leaves her husband.

Chinese actor Jin Dong has expressed concern over artificial inelligence con artists who impersonate him, and called for tougher laws to tackle such rackets. Photo: SCMP composite/Douyin/Weibo
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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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.

A human resources manager in China created 22 fake employees to embezzle US$2.2 million from the company he worked for. Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock
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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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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The Merlion statue spouts water at a park with the background of a business district in Singapore. Photo: AP
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.

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.

Scammers have been posing as school principals or other personnel to get staff to pick up packages as part of a ploy, the force has said. Photo: Jelly Tse
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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