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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.
A group of people gets a guided tour of the University of California Los Angeles campus. Photo: TNS
Crime

US man Jeffrey Ying sentenced for stealing rare Chinese manuscript from UCLA

Ying would borrow valuable classics from the university library then swap them for fakes before travelling to China.

Crime in Hong Kong

125 arrested as triads use violence to seize construction site lunchbox trade

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Indonesia

‘Strong deterrent’: Indonesia expels 92 Chinese suspected scammers

Thailand

Drug traffickers using social media to hire Thai airline staff as couriers

A Thai Airways flight attendant was charged with importing more than one kilogram of heroin into Australia.

Confiscated narcotic drugs are stored inside a narcotics storage room as Thai authorities prepare to burn them at an industrial incinerator outside Bangkok, at the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), in Bangkok on February 4 last year. Photo: Reuters
WhatsApp

Fake Dubai prince scam: how AI deepfakes love-bomb victims to steal hearts and money

Fraudsters use real-time face-swapping tech and the likeness of royal ‘Fazza’ to ensnare vulnerable targets.

Crime

Exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui jailed for 30 years in US for fraud

A New York judge ordered Guo to forfeit US$889 million in restitution, saying he ‘preyed on those seeking to bring Democracy to China’.

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Hong Kong police

Hong Kong physiotherapist loses HK$5m in scam involving ‘beautiful assistant’

Facebook ad redirected victim to WhatsApp chat with scammer who pushed fake ‘SecuG Pro’ investment app and solicited transfers.

The victim had communicated with scammer using a WhatsApp profile featuring a professionally dressed woman. Photo: AFP
Japan

Meet AIko: Japan’s AI police chief taking on a US$2 billion scam epidemic

Japan has a new police chief. Her name is AIko, she lives on YouTube and she’s coming for scammers.

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Crime in Hong Kong

Hong Kong, mainland police smash HK$16.8 million cross-border phishing syndicate

Fifteen arrested after scammers impersonated government services, including Water Supplies Department, to dupe victims.

Hong Kong courts

Hong Kong beautician pleads guilty to luring 2 women into Myanmar scam factory

Victims offered free flights, accommodation and reward for transporting 48 million baht before being ‘sold’ to compound.

Poon Sum-yi, 33, pleaded guilty to a count of fraud for luring the two victims into travelling to Thailand. Photo: Jelly Tse
Trending in China

Chinese man sells random vacant flat to trusting couple for US$103,000

The case sparks outrage on mainland social media, with many calling Sun conscienceless and ungrateful.

Shanghai local Sun hired a locksmith to rekey a vacant unit, then sold it to a couple he had known for decades. Photo: Shutterstock
Crime in Hong Kong

29 arrested in crackdown on loan sharks who charged victims 3,000% in interest

Syndicate set up call centre and posed as licensed finance companies, tricking victims into taking out loans.

Crime in Hong Kong

Hong Kong police arrest 69 over laundering HK$200m from cross-border fraud

Suspects aged 18 to 60 held in joint operation targeting syndicate using mule accounts to launder proceeds from investment scams.

Thailand

Thailand auctions US$18 million superyacht linked to supersized fraud

Nearly US$700 million in assets have been seized in Thailand so far, an example of the amount of dirty money sloshing through the economy.

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Atlas, a superyacht belonging to fugitive financier Benjamin Mauerberger, goes under the hammer on Tuesday. Photo: Anti-Money Laundering Office
Hong Kong courts

1 year in prison for man who forced 2 Thai women into prostitution in Hong Kong

Gang member Chiu Hon-leung ordered subordinates to lock women in Yau Ma Tei flat in 2023 but was arrested after victims alerted Thai consulate.

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The two Thai women were trafficked to Hong Kong and locked in a flat on Temple Street. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Trending in China

China’s ‘soy sauce’ detox scam swindles over 100 seniors out of US$1.5 million

Police say health centre with ‘abnormal’ US$4.5 million turnover was part of organised fraud ring that preyed on loneliness of elderly.

Crime

AI driving ‘more elaborate and deceptive’ cyberfraud in Asia: Interpol

Of the 18 Interpol members that responded to the Asian survey, more than half reported that cybercrime made up 30 per cent of all offences.

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Hong Kong courts

Court extends order against college finance chief in HK$25m embezzlement case

Hong Kong Chu Hai College alleges that Ray Yip disguised illicit transactions as academic and administrative expenses.

Ray Yip appeared for the first time at the High Court on Friday. Photo: Brian Wong
Indonesia

Indonesia’s US$8 million visa scandal threatens drive for talent, investors

Public-sector corruption is an ‘open secret’ in Indonesia, analysts say, urging Jakarta to make the application process more transparent.

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Singapore

Singapore uncovers US$18 million scheme to dodge US mattress tariffs, 3 charged

The men allegedly declared China-made mattresses as Singapore goods to avoid paying US anti-dumping duties.

Cambodia

Cambodia’s ‘performative’ crackdowns fail to stop scam centres: Amnesty

The rights group said it identified 86 scam compounds operating across Cambodia as of April, up from 53 a year earlier.

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Cambodian authorities display equipment seized from a scam compound in Phnom Penh on March 11. Photo: EPA
Crime in Hong Kong

Scammers posing as police dupe 42 mainland students in Hong Kong out of millions

One 21-year-old victim was tricked into staging her own ‘abduction’ after being lured to Thailand.

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Thai authorities rescued a 21-year-old university student who flew from Hong Kong after being tricked by scammers. Photo: Handout
Singapore

Suspected Filipino scammer reveals how Cambodian ring conned Singaporeans

De Villar Rizalyn Panganiban, accused of taking part in a three-level impersonation scam, gives insights into the gang’s fraud tactics.

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Cambodia

Cambodia jails 6 Chinese men for South Korean student’s torture and murder

The six were reportedly part of a criminal gang linked to the multibillion-dollar ‘pig butchering’ scam industry.

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Trending in China

‘Using good as bait’: blind China girl held after fake crash clip gets 100 million views

Staged electric bike accident on pavement for the blind leaves visually impaired community fearing an erosion of public trust.

A viral video showing a blind girl being hit by an electric bicycle, with the rider fleeing after blaming her, has gained nearly one billion views online. But it was later revealed to have been staged, leading to the detention of both people involved. Photo: ifeng.com
Crime

Editorial | Hong Kong should spare no effort in fight against financial crime

The recent crackdown by law enforcement agencies from 10 jurisdictions on international scams shows the benefit of regional cooperation.

Officers from the Frontier+ initiative at a press briefing in the Maldives. Photo: Handout
US-China relations

Two Chinese nationals charged in US drug cartel money-laundering case

Prosecutors say pair used mirror transfers, encrypted apps and trade schemes to launder cartel drug profits globally.

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Trending in China

China ‘most devoted fraudster’ fakes hospital records to give wife free dialysis

Unemployed ex-factory worker who struggles to define meaning of love stays loyal to wife until the day she dies.

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