Surge in phone scams targeting mainland students in HK, police warm

Mainland students studying in Hong Kong have been urged to be more vigilant as the number of them falling victim to phone scams has risen significantly.

According to Senior Inspector Eddie Lam, there were 39 cases of mainland students becoming victims of fake official ruses in the first quarter of this year, up from 29 cases during the same period in 2022.

"We discovered that scammers specifically target mainlanders studying in Hong Kong. The number of reports by mainland students increased rapidly in April," Lam said.

The police official advised students, especially those from the mainland, to be extra cautious. From January to March, phone scam victims in Hong Kong lost a total of HK$789 million, almost four times more than the amount swindled during the same period the previous year.