Joint police crackdown on cross-border scams delivers swift justice
More often than not, news reports on online scams are more about victims falling for new tactics rather than money retrieved and culprits brought to justice. To be fair, the authorities have already doubled down on public education and enforcement. Unfortunately, fraudsters continue to outsmart their prey and the law. Hopefully, this will change after authorities in the region stepped up enforcement together. In the first joint crackdown on online scams using a cross-border communication platform, Hong Kong and six other Asian jurisdictions have intercepted more than HK$157 million and made over 1,800 arrests.
Time was of the essence as the Hong Kong Police Force took part in the successful joint operation that also involved its counterparts in Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, the Maldives and Macau. Thanks to the platform, Frontier +, which also links law enforcement agencies in Australia, Canada and Indonesia, officers were able to liaise with each other on the handling of suspected proceeds from crime, helping victims of transnational swindles, and the sharing of intelligence.
In March, the Anti-Deception Coordination Centre in Hong Kong cooperated with Singapore police and helped recover almost US$500,000 following a late-night alert regarding a money-transfer scam using deepfake technology that targeted a financial director of a multinational company.
Overall, Hong Kong police investigated 301 cases of fraud under the joint crackdown, arresting 337 suspects, freezing 68 bank accounts and recovering HK$49.5 million.
The operation may have helped banish the impression that it is usually too late for police to do anything when people are scammed. However, the culprits in many cases are still at large and the amount of money swindled continues to escalate. With more than 44,000 deception cases lodged last year, accounting for almost half of all crime in the city, and a detection rate of merely 10.6 per cent, there is no room for complacency.
At stake is not only the perception and confidence in law enforcement and justice, but also the economic loss to individuals and society. Worryingly, losses resulting from financial fraud surged to a staggering HK$9.15 billion last year. Authorities must show they are not powerless when it comes to bringing fraudsters to justice. The cross-border nature of many scams has become such a problem that no single jurisdiction alone can win the fight.
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