115 Hongkongers lose HK$22 million in a week in click farming scams

Con artists have duped 115 Hongkongers out of HK$22 million (US$2.8 million) in a single week through click farming scams which offered “commissions” to victims supposedly recruited to boost sales of products online.

Police reminded the public of the increasingly rampant employment fraud in an alert posted on their CyberDefender Facebook page on Monday, describing scammers who offered initial cash rewards as bait to lure victims into carrying out more transactions.

The victims were told their task was to increase the popularity and sales of a retail outlet or product by using their own money to shop online, with swindlers promising to pay them back.

“To gain credibility, the victims usually received a commission after completing their first task,” police said.

“Scammers then persuaded them to do more ‘click farming’ tasks or asked them to register on fake websites and make deposits. Once swindlers obtained the money, they disappeared.”

The force received 115 reports of this fake online job scam last week, with the total amount swindled reaching HK$22 million.

In one case, a 52-year-old woman fell victim to the scam after she responded to a “job offer” sent to her through a WhatsApp message, resulting in a loss of nearly HK$1.8 million.