Hong Kong has logged over 2,100 investment scam cases in the first half of 2026, with losses totalling HK$1.6 billion, the police have said.

A smartphone. Photo: freestocks, via Unsplash.

Police said on Friday that, while investment scams accounted for only one-tenth of the 20,613 deception cases recorded in the first half of the year, they made up nearly half of the HK$3.5 billion lost to swindlers.

But the number of investment scams also represented a 14.8 per cent decrease from the same period last year, excluding the recent Fun Coffee crypto scam, according to police.

‘Publicity campaigns’

Fanny Kung, senior superintendent of the police Commercial Crime Bureau, said at a press conference on Friday that the largest loss in a single case amounted to nearly HK$85 million.

The victim, a 67-year-old merchant, was targeted by a self-proclaimed investment expert he met on Facebook, with whom he later developed a romantic relationship, Kung said.

Other scammers had placed ads on social media platforms or even held offline events to increase their exposure, hiring influencers and organising high-profile activities such as “boat parties” to attract public attention, Kung said.

“The fraud syndicates would boast about having investors around the world and launch massive publicity campaigns,” Kung said in Cantonese. “All in an effort to attract public attention and make the public believe they were powerful and wealthy.”

Bitcoin. File photo: Marco Verch, via Shutterstock.

Kung said a large number of investment scams attracted victims online by promoting artificial intelligence, automated investment bots, or cryptocurrencies.

But police found that many of the webpages were not real entities, with some having AI-generated company directors and brand ambassadors – some even had fake registrations with overseas regulators, Kung added.

“Some have already been listed as suspicious by foreign regulators… while others have been reported by foreign investors alleging scams,” Kung said.

Scammers rented prime office space in the city as a trap to lure retail investors, Kung said – eventually swindling them out of their money.

6 arrested in Fun Coffee scam

Acting Superintendent Lo Yuen-shan of the Commercial Crime Bureau said on Friday that, as of Thursday, 273 people had filed a police report regarding the Fun Coffee crypto scam, with losses totalling HK$113 million.

The scam operated locally but involved a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment programme linked to a fake Vietnam-based “kinetic coffee philosophy” enterprise – it promised returns of up to 278 per cent. Last month, the fraudster’s app went dark after the Securities and Futures Commission flagged the scheme as suspicious.

Individual losses ranged from HK$3,000 to HK$9.6 million in the Fun Coffee case, Lo said, adding that six people have been arrested so far.

Hong Kong Police Force. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

Kung urged residents to stay alert regarding online investment information, as scammers had used AI to generate fake investment platforms or schemes.

Residents should verify the licences and qualifications of investment platforms by checking the Securities and Futures Commission’s alert lists on suspicious platforms and the police’s Scammeter+ database, Kung said.

Last month, a UN report said victims of transnational online scams in East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand lost up to US$114.1 billion last year, with estimated losses at least tripling from 2023.

See also: New book tells ‘true stories’ of Hongkongers trafficked to Myanmar scam farms

Many victims fell prey to online scams originating in Southeast Asia, especially Cambodia and Myanmar, where crime syndicates run fake romance and cryptocurrency schemes using workers recruited or trafficked from around the world.