Hong Kong Police Report HK$220 Million Customer Service Scam Losses in August

Customer service scams caused losses of more than HK$220 million (US$28.2 million) in Hong Kong in August, police said, warning that the monthly figure was more than triple the average recorded during the first seven months of the year.

Scammers changing how they target victims

The police force said fraudsters posing as customer service officers had shifted from using phishing links to methods that gave them real-time control over victims.

These methods included making direct calls and using screen sharing, allowing scammers to interact with victims’ devices as the fraud unfolded.

Police also warned that victims could be tricked into installing a malicious app that turned their mobile phones into a credit card reader.

The shift matters because the scams no longer depend only on victims clicking a phishing link; scammers are also using direct communication and malicious software to gain access during the interaction.

Scam losses rise across Hong Kong

Hong Kong recorded 29,670 scam cases in the first eight months of 2026, up 4.5 per cent from 28,379 cases during the same period a year earlier.

Total losses rose by 3.8 per cent to HK$5.2 billion over the same comparison period.

Customer service scams accounted for about 17 per cent of the cases, or around 5,000 incidents, police said.

Together, those cases caused total losses of nearly HK$700 million, placing customer service scams among the significant contributors to the wider rise in scam-related losses.

Source: South China Morning Post