HK police warns public over online scam ads using Financial Secretary's image

 The Hong Kong Police Force are in the midst of investigating an online advertisement scam regarding Financial Secretary Paul Chan. The police said in its official Facebook account on 26 June 2022, that recently fraudulent advertisements and websites containing the Chan's name and news images were found online, enticing the public to click and directing them to suspicious trading platforms. The Secretary's Office has clarified that the relevant advertisements and statements are completely untrue, and that the police are looking into the incident.

The police added that scammers often use the names of famous individuals to grab consumer attention, and direct them to fake webpages. These scammers utilise celebrity effect to increase their credibility, claiming that investment projects can get huge returns as a solicitation, by advertising "Share the road to wealth". Scammers also set up fake news websites to "report" on investment platforms recommended by well-known people, said by the police. “However, if the public pays a little attention, it should not be difficult to find that some of the content on these fraudulent websites or platforms is not grammatically correct, and there are a large number of invalid links.” they added.

The police warned the public to beware of related false advertisements and suspicious trading platforms, and not to download investment apps of unknown origin and provide personal information to strangers.

Previously in a statement released on 11 June 2022, the Financial Secretary's Office (FSO) appealed to members of the public for heightened vigilance against deceptive advertisements circulating online, purported to be interviews with the Financial Secretary (FS).   The FSO solemnly clarified that it has never issued or authorised such advertisements, insisting that the FS has never conducted the so-called interviews on fictitious articles and the remarks in the relevant fake articles are all fictitious.

The FSO recently noted some deceptive advertisements and websites on some online news portals and in social media which carry the FS's name and news photos. Such advertisements lure users to click and take them to suspicious transaction platforms.   A spokesman for the FSO urged the public not to visit any suspicious websites via those advertisements or provide personal information to unknown websites. The FSO has reported the incident to the Police for follow-up investigation.

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