Hong Kong Scam & Fraud Statistics
Hong Kong police recorded 43 212 deception cases in 2025 with monetary losses of about $8.1 billion, the first annual fall after consecutive rises since 2019.
Last reviewed: 20 July 2026
This page covers Hong Kong's deception figures, published by the Hong Kong Police Force through the Anti-Deception Coordination Centre (ADCC) and the Government's annual law-and-order review. In 2025 police recorded 43 212 deception cases, a decrease of 2.9 per cent (-1 268 cases) on 2024 and the first decline following consecutive annual rises since 2019. Monetary losses also fell, from approximately $9.2 billion to about $8.1 billion, a decline of 11.3 per cent (-$1.03 billion).\n\nAll dollar amounts on this page are Hong Kong dollars exactly as the police published them; they are not US dollars and have not been converted. The figures count cases reported to police and the losses victims declared in those reports, so scams nobody reports, and money later recovered, sit outside them. Deception now accounts for nearly half of all recorded crime in Hong Kong (48.5 per cent), which means the totals are shaped by police intervention as much as by criminal activity: officers intervened in 4 060 cases and intercepted $480 million in fraudulent payments in 2025, which police say accounts for nearly half of the fall in losses.
Key figures
43 212 cases, a decrease of 2.9% (-1 268 cases) on 2024
Total deception cases recorded in 2025
Source: Anti-Deception Coordination Centre — Scam Situation in Hong Kong (2025)
About $8.1 billion, down from approximately $9.2 billion, a decline of 11.3% (-$1.03 billion)
Total monetary losses from deception in 2025
Source: Hong Kong Government — Law and order situation in Hong Kong in 2025 (2025)
48.5% of all reported crimes
Deception as a share of all reported crime
Source: Anti-Deception Coordination Centre — Scam Situation in Hong Kong (2025)
12 505 cases (+946 cases, +8.2%), 28.9% of all deception cases
E-shopping fraud — the most prevalent deception category
Source: Anti-Deception Coordination Centre — Scam Situation in Hong Kong (2025)
5 135 cases (+30.7%) with losses of $3.58 billion (+58.4%), or 44.1% of the total monetary loss
Online investment fraud — the costliest category
Source: Hong Kong Government — Law and order situation in Hong Kong in 2025 (2025)
About $700,000, up from about $580,000 in 2024
Average loss per online investment fraud case
Source: Anti-Deception Coordination Centre — Scam Situation in Hong Kong (2025)
8 621 cases, a decrease of 6.3% (-583 cases)
Telephone deception cases in 2025
Source: Hong Kong Government — Law and order situation in Hong Kong in 2025 (2025)
4 095 cases (+6.3%), of which 96.5% were click farming scams
Online employment fraud cases in 2025
Source: Anti-Deception Coordination Centre — Scam Situation in Hong Kong (2025)
Key takeaways
- E-shopping fraud is the scam you are most likely to meet — 12 505 cases in 2025, 28.9 per cent of all deception — and concert tickets drove much of it, with 2 805 cases after the Kai Tak Sports Park opened in March 2025.
- Investment fraud is where the money goes: it was only 11.9 per cent of cases but 44.1 per cent of all losses, at an average of about $700,000 per case.
- In 80.4 per cent of investment fraud cases the victim was first contacted through a mainstream social media platform or instant messaging app, so an unsolicited investment approach in your DMs is the single clearest warning sign.
- One third of online investment fraud losses ($1.18 billion) involved virtual assets, often after victims downloaded fake mobile investment apps.
- Reporting early works: police intervened in 4 060 cases and intercepted $480 million in payments in 2025, accounting for nearly half of the year's total fall in losses.
Frequently asked questions
How much money did Hong Kong scam victims lose in 2025?
Police recorded about $8.1 billion in losses from deception in 2025, in Hong Kong dollars, down 11.3 per cent (-$1.03 billion) from approximately $9.2 billion in 2024. Online investment fraud alone accounted for $3.58 billion of that, or 44.1 per cent of the total, and one third of investment fraud losses ($1.18 billion) involved virtual assets. These are losses reported to police, so the real figure is higher.
Which scams are most common in Hong Kong?
E-shopping fraud led with 12 505 cases in 2025, 28.9 per cent of all deception. Telephone deception followed with 8 621 cases, including 4 440 cases of fraudsters impersonating customer service. Online investment fraud recorded 5 135 cases and online employment fraud 4 095, almost all of them click farming scams. Phishing fell sharply to 1 093 cases, a 60 per cent drop that police attribute partly to interception of suspicious calls and websites.