The Hong Kong Police Power (HKPF) has dismantled an enormous cross-border fraud operation that used deep faux know-how to con males into phony cryptocurrency investments.
The rip-off focused males by means of faux on-line romances, with the victims reportedly being conned out of roughly $46 million.
27 Arrested in Raid on Fraud Heart
Native media reviews revealed that the police recognized a bunch working from a fraud middle positioned in a Hung Hom industrial unit between August and September 2024. On October 9, the authorities raided the 4,000-square-foot facility, arresting 27 people, together with 21 males and 6 girls aged between 21 and 34.
Legislation enforcement officers additionally seized computer systems, cell phones, luxurious watches, and roughly $25,750 in suspected crime proceeds from the operation’s headquarters. The suspects had been apprehended on fees of conspiracy to defraud and possession of offensive weapons.
The fraudulent operation centered round the usage of “romance scams,” the place perpetrators posed as engaging girls to lure victims into relationships by way of on-line platforms. Utilizing superior synthetic intelligence-powered deep faux know-how to create practical interactions, the swindlers posed as fascinating girls and carried out video chats with their targets.
As soon as belief was established, the victims had been inspired to spend money on digital cryptocurrencies by means of what gave the impression to be a professional funding platform.
In actuality, the platform was faux, arrange by the prison group with the help of native college graduates recruited as digital media and know-how consultants. These graduates, together with different abroad fraudsters and IT specialists, helped create the subtle infrastructure that enabled the deception.
AI Romance Rip-off Operation
Police described the fraud middle as meticulously organized and unusually massive, with the group going so far as producing coaching manuals in Chinese language and English. These manuals instructed the cheats on methods to construct faux romances and manipulate their targets to extract cash.
Fang Chi-kin, head of the New Territories South regional crime unit, defined that after preliminary contact with victims on social media, the imposters used AI to ship artificially generated pictures depicting engaging people. Their faux personas had been fastidiously crafted by way of look, character, occupation, and training.
Superintendent Iu Wing-kan added that when victims requested video calls, deep faux know-how was used to change their appearances and voices, main the victims to belief them utterly. In response to police, many of the arrested people are males, with many coming from mainland China, Taiwan, India, and Singapore.
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