Title: Rising Scams on Popular E-commerce Platform in Hong Kong: An Alert for Potential Investors

Hong Kong’s law enforcement agencies have issued a warning to locals concerning fraudulent individuals impersonating buyers on the well-known internet-based marketplace, Carousell. A staggering 644 incidents, leading to an estimated loss of HK$36 million (US$4.63 million), have been reported within the initial ten months of the year.

Felton Leung Yee-tak, the Chief Inspector of the Cybersecurity and Technology Crime Bureau, disclosed on Monday that the damages incurred from online shopping fraud from January to October had more than doubled compared to the same time frame last year.

Fraudsters have been found to be increasingly utilizing fabricated payment histories to gain access to the banking details of individual vendors on digital commerce sites, such as Carousell. This strategy has often led to a significant escalation in the losses incurred, explained Leung.

Leung further clarified that the primary goal of these scammers wasn’t the merchandise but the seller’s login credentials for online banking services and savings accounts. The subsequent losses were therefore much more severe, indicating a need for heightened vigilance.

Despite an overall decrease in technology-related crimes, online shopping fraud has been on the rise. These crimes range from various online frauds, extortion through sexual exploitation or ‘sextortion’, phishing scams, and account theft.

The data reveals that the total technology crime cases reported in the city within the first ten months were 28,433, marking a 2.2% decrease from last year during the same period. However, the losses have seen a sharp decline by HK$210 million.

This piece serves as an alert for potential investors and interested individuals to remain cautious and informed about the increasing trend of online scams, particularly on popular e-commerce platforms.