Hong Kong Cybercrime on the Rise

First published: 30^th January 2013

In his end-of-year review, Hong Kong Police Commissioner Andy Tsang Wai-hung admitted there had been an alarming rise in cybercrime during 2012. There were 430 reported commercial email scams last year, resulting in HK$430 million in losses, a 177% increase in the number of cases and 267% increase in losses from 2011. A further HK$26 million of losses were described as due to online business scams. About 820 cases were related to online shopping or auctions. The rate of increase in technology crime over the last three years was above 30%. Tsang cited difficulties in investigation, including ISPs refusing to disclose suspicious web addresses and jurisdiction issues. Only 15.4% of technology crime cases were solved.

The overall number of crimes fell slightly in 2012, and violent crime dropped 2%.

Yui Kee's Chief Consultant, Allan Dyer, commented, "Criminals find it easy to search for victims online. We must all be vigilant and strengthen our security practices. This includes companies and banks that are putting their customers at risk by adopting unsafe procedures."