Latest Scam Alerts
Be Vigilant against All Scams on the Pretext of Tai Po Fire
2. Scammers send fraudulent SMSs on the pretext of the Tai Po fire. For example, there are SMSs which are allegedly from the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council and falsely claim raising medical expenses for the victims of the fire. In order to get donations by deception, scammers allure recipients to click on the embedded fraudulent links to visit fraudulent fundraising websites.
Be Vigilant against All Scams on the Pretext of Tai Po Fire
2025-11-27
The Police have discovered that scammers have been extorting money on the pretext of the Tai Po fire. Common tricks include phishing “fundraising” SMSs and fraudulent victim registration forms. Please be vigilant against them!
Defaulting Tricks
1. Scammers posing as volunteers use fraudulent victim registration forms to fish in troubled waters, obtaining victims’ personal, banking and credit card information by deception. They even ask victims to fill in verification codes.
2. Scammers send fraudulent SMSs on the pretext of the Tai Po fire. For example, there are SMSs which are allegedly from the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council and falsely claim raising medical expenses for the victims of the fire. In order to get donations by deception, scammers allure recipients to click on the embedded fraudulent links to visit fraudulent fundraising websites.
In this connection, the Anti-Deception Coordination Centre specially reminds the public:
- Not to click on the fraudulent links embedded in suspicious “fundraising” SMSs or transfer money to unknown bank accounts;
- Not to fill in unsolicited victim registration forms;
- Not to rashly scan QR codes;
- Not to rashly believe fundraising posts on the internet. If you come across unsolicited fundraising promotions, you should verify them with relevant organisations. If you receive calls made by people claiming that they are staff members of relevant organisations, you should verity the identities of the callers with such organisations;
- Not to disclose your personal data, including name, identity card number, bank account numbers, online banking usernames, passwords and verification codes, to strangers;
- That if you want to lend a helping hand to the victims, please make donations through official and reliable channels. If you want to make donations to the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council, you may browse its official web page at https://donation.skhwc.org.hk/hk/fund-donation/aolwfc;
- That if in doubt, please call the “Anti-Scam Helpline 18222” for enquiries
