In the past week, an alarming extortion scam has targeted 59 Hong Kong residents, including four women, resulting in losses exceeding HK$1.9 million (US$244,430), South China Morning Post reported. According to the police, who revealed the figures on their CyberDefender Facebook page, the scam typically involves extortionists – often women – luring male victims into undressing during video chats and then secretly recording the acts.

The scammers then use the footage to coerce victims into payment by threatening to share the videos online or with their relatives and friends. In some cases, scammers also pose as charming, high-income, educated men to target women on social media. They use flattery and sweet talk to gain trust, manipulating victims by learning about their personal interests and lives.

”They use sweet talk to learn about the victims’ personal lives and interests to manipulate them. In the past week, police received 59 cases of naked-chat blackmail, with scammers extorting more than HK$1.9 million. Four cases involved female victims,” the force said.

In the first half of this year, students comprised 20% of the 1,102 victims, with fraudsters pocketing over HK$31 million. Comparing year-over-year data, reports of “naked-chat blackmail” surged 50% from 1,402 in 2022 to 2,117 in 2023, while losses doubled from HK$22 million to HK$44 million.

Moreover, deception cases in Hong Kong have increased by 12% from 21,798 to 24,407 between January and July this year. Losses skyrocketed 50% to HK$5.14 billion during the same period. Law enforcement responded by arresting over 6,000 suspects linked to scams and related activities this year.

The police are now cautioning citizens to exercise vigilance when meeting people online. They emphasise the importance of verifying identities and profiles, avoiding intimate activities on video chats, and reporting suspicious activities immediately.

Recently, a few Hong Kong men fell prey to a romance scam that used deepfake artificial intelligence to lure its victims into parting with more than $46 million. As per CNN, the suspects aged 21 to 34, were mostly well-educated, with many of them digital media and technology graduates allegedly recruited by the gang after attending local universities. The suspects allegedly worked with IT specialists overseas to build a fake cryptocurrency platform, where the victims were coerced to make investments, police said.