HK dog meat deception: App-savvy con artists swipe 6.2 million baht

Cyber criminals in Hong Kong unleashed a devious plot involving faux dog meat sales, designed to hook unsuspecting victims into downloading a treacherous mobile app.

Hong Kong police are on high alert as they uncover a ploy wherein scammers exploit two social media pages peddling fragrant meat, with no connection to actual dog meat. The scam is a bait-and-switch, involving malicious apps set to remotely control phones and pilfer banking credentials.

Acting superintendent, Ip Cheuk-yu, disclosed in a press conference that scammers created Facebook and Instagram pages hawking everything from food to travel plans, roping in unsuspecting victims. Once lured in, potential buyers are duped into downloading a fake e-commerce app, granting it dangerous permissions.

This nefarious e-commerce platform, using aliases like No. One e-commerce and 88 Grocery Store, continuously morphs its identity. Victims, numbering 11 so far, reported staggering losses between HK$9,000 and HK$415,000 (1.8 million baht), making this scam’s total haul HK$1.36 million, reported Hong Kong Free Press.

Police Chief Inspector Lau Ngo-chung revealed the scam’s sophisticated modus operandi. Once the app gained full access to victims’ phones, it transformed them into remote-controlled devices. Even seemingly locked phones were manipulated, and unwitting victims were led to fraudulent banking login pages.

Among the victims, a man in his sixties fell prey to a seemingly innocuous advertisement for affordable instant noodles. Little did he know that downloading the malware would lead to the unauthorised transfer of his life savings.

Escalating crime post Covid-19

As if the dog meat scam weren’t enough, police data reveals a surge in fraud-related crimes in Hong Kong since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. With a staggering 27,923 cases reported in 2022, authorities are grappling with an unprecedented wave of cybercrime.

Despite the shocking scam, no arrests have been made. Police Chief Inspector Lau Ngo-chung urgently warns the public against downloading apps from unauthorised sources, emphasising the importance of cautious app permissions and advising potential victims to reset their phones to factory settings.

In a parallel development, the Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department (AFCD) has launched an investigation into suspected dog meat advertisements. The illegal slaughter and sale of dog and cat flesh in Hong Kong could land offenders with a hefty HK$5,000 fine and up to six months behind bars.