Hong Kong Police Crack Down On Fraud Cases, Arrest 53 Individuals

According to PANews, Hong Kong's Western District Police have conducted a month-long operation named 'Operation Windbreaker' to combat various fraud cases. The operation resulted in the resolution of 41 different fraud cases and the arrest of 53 individuals, involving a total of HKD 78 million. Notably, there has been a significant rise in 'fake customer service' scams. The police also discovered that a criminal syndicate had invested over HKD 100,000 in rent to set up a physical cryptocurrency exchange store in Wan Chai, defrauding three individuals of HKD 5 million. Following an investigation, the police arrested six local men in connection with the case, four of whom have triad backgrounds. These six individuals are key members of the criminal syndicate, including the mastermind, exchange store employees, cash handlers, lookouts, and puppet account holders. Further investigation revealed that the same criminal group had been involved in similar fraud cases as early as March this year. They allegedly set up a physical cryptocurrency exchange store in Tsim Sha Tsui, defrauding six victims of HKD 7 million. The combined fraud amount from the Wan Chai and Tsim Sha Tsui cases totals HKD 12 million.