On January 5, according to a report from Phoenix Network, the Hong Kong police recently cracked down on a fraud group that used deepfake technology to lure others into investing in virtual currencies through social media platforms, involving about 34 million Hong Kong dollars.
The Hong Kong police commercial crime squad, based on intelligence, arrested 31 people aged between 20 and 34 on the previous Thursday and Friday at two industrial buildings in Kowloon Bay, some of whom claimed to be students and unemployed, involved in the same fraud group, and seized their pre-set "scripts".
The Hong Kong police said the group would recruit young people who want to "make quick money" to join, train them to set up accounts on dating platforms with false identities, pretending to have good looks and a luxurious lifestyle, and get to know people from abroad, including Taiwan and East Asia, and chat with them according to the "script". After understanding the other party's background, they would cater to their preferences and develop into online lovers, and even use deepfake technology to conduct video calls, and then lure the other party to invest in virtual currencies, claiming good returns, and require them to deposit into a fake platform, and the group would immediately transfer the virtual currencies after receiving them, and cut off contact with the victims.
The police said the fraud group has been operating for at least a year, and the criminal proceeds have exceeded 34 million Hong Kong dollars.
Acting Chief Inspector of the Hong Kong Commercial Crime Bureau, Hung Hing-fun, said: "They rented two fraud centers adjacent to industrial buildings in Kowloon Bay to diversify risks and increase confidentiality. Most importantly, we noticed that these two fraud centers were divided into two shifts to operate around the clock to attract more victims. Never think that participating in some criminal group's work is just a small matter, even if you are only arranged to get to know the victims online and not directly involved in virtual currency investment work, it is still illegal."
The Hong Kong police reminded that conspiracy to defraud is a serious crime, and upon conviction, the maximum penalty is 14 years' imprisonment. Some victims are located abroad, and the fraud platforms are not based in Hong Kong, and they will cooperate with overseas law enforcement agencies to continue the investigation.
According to reports, the mastermind, the person in charge of the center, and the core members of the fraud group, a total of 5 people, have been prosecuted for conspiracy to defraud and money laundering, and will appear in the Eastern Magistrates' Court on Monday.
