(To watch the full media session with sign language interpretation, click here.)

Secretary for Security John Lee today said the prevalence of deception in Hong Kong will likely continue.

Mr Lee made the statement during the review of crime figures at a media session, noting that many deception cases involve overseas culprits.

“In regard to deception cases, the international trend, I think, indicates that the prevalence of this offence is likely to continue. And the simple reasons are, first of all, that criminals of such deception cases have a low risk of being caught because a lot of these deception cases are perpetrated through the Internet or telephone, when in actuality the culprits are overseas.

“But the possibility of making a return, ie deceiving for money, is high.”

Mr Lee explained that exposure to online scammers has increased because more people are staying home to avoid violent acts and the risk of catching COVID-19.

“Since June last year, there have been quite a large number of social disorder cases, unlawful and violent acts which, in some way, make people tend not to go out. And the second reason is COVID-19, because people tend to stay home.

“So these expose them to the opportunities of being contacted by those who want to deceive.

“And thirdly, there is a tendency for people to engage in communications through the Internet and social media, because that has been the habit of life. And because of this interaction, the opportunities of being trapped by all these scammers have become higher.”

Reviewing the crime situation in the first eight months this year, overall crime in Hong Kong was up 25% compared with the same period last year, with 42,526 cases recorded.

In addition to deception offences, rises were recorded in the categories of violent crime, robberies, burglary and blackmail.