Clifford Lo

2 months ago | scmp.com | Clifford Lo

Online fraudsters scammed Hongkongers out of more than HK$200 million (US$25.7 million) in a week last month and used artificial intelligence (AI) to trick a victim into transferring HK$145 million in one of the cases. Police said the victim, a merchant, wanted to buy cryptocurrency mining equipment used to create digital tokens. The purchase was negotiated via the WhatsApp messaging app with what the victim thought was a mainland Chinese company.

Jan 5, 2025 | scmp.com | Clifford Lo

The amount of narcotics confiscated from air travellers at the Hong Kong International Airport soared to 874kg (1,927lbs) last year, an increase of 244 per cent over the figure for 2019, before the Covid-19 outbreak, the Post has learned. Statistics obtained by the Post showed that narcotics worth HK$349 million (US$44.9 million) were seized from 111 arrivals from different parts of the world last year.

Dec 29, 2024 | scmp.com | Clifford Lo

Tobacco products in Hong Kong will need to carry laser labels to show they are legitimate goods, in a bid by local authorities to crack down on black-market cigarettes, the Post has learned. Sources said authorities were studying how to update existing legislation to ensure the adoption of the labelling system, which involved goods being marked with a laser, to distinguish between duty-paid cigarettes and untaxed tobacco products.

Nov 28, 2024 | scmp.com | Clifford Lo

Hong Kong police have arrested three Indonesian passport holders in a crackdown on a pickpocketing syndicate that hunted for targets near banks and followed victims before stealing their belongings. The force said on Thursday that the suspects – two men and one woman – were accused of stealing HK$70,000 (US$9,000) and 200,000 Japanese yen (HK$10,300) from two elderly residents shortly after the victims withdrew money from two different banks in North Point in September and November.

Nov 27, 2024 | scmp.com | Clifford Lo

A Hong Kong primary school teacher is among seven people arrested by customs officers in a crackdown on the illegal import and distribution of the newly emerging drug “space oil”, with the seizure of anaesthetic that could produce HK$17 million (US$2.2 million) worth of the narcotic.