Hongkongers scammed out of RM423.50mil in nine months by phone cheats, with telecoms companies sending out 117,000 alerts daily

‘Guess who I am’ trick still fools people into believing family members in distress need money fast, with 1,822 cases reported in first nine months. City’s telecoms firms have sent 117,647 alerts daily since May to warn about possible scams from ‘ 852’ numbers pretending to be locally based. — SCMP

Fraudsters have managed to con 2,506 Hong Kong residents out of HK$705mil (RM432.50mil) in the first nine months of this year despite mobile operators sending out more than 117,000 alerts a day warning people to watch out for scams.

About nine people were duped over the phone every day between January and September. The latest official data showed 278 monthly cases during the period, up from 235 last year and 95 in 2021.