Hong Kong Police conducts cross-border anti-scam operation with six countries and regions (with photos/video)
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The Hong Kong Police Force, in collaboration with the police forces of Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR), Malaysia, the Maldives, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand, conducted the first joint operation of the Cross-border Anti-Scam Collaboration Platform “FRONTIER+” from April 28 to May 28. The operation achieved significant results in combating cross-border scam activities.
During the month-long operation, over 2 700 law enforcement officers from seven countries and regions were deployed, successfully identifying and dismantling multiple cross-border scam syndicates. In total, 1 858 individuals (aged between 14 and 81) were arrested, involving 9 268 scam cases, including online shopping scams, telephone deceptions (such as government official impersonation scams and impersonating customer service scams), investment scams, rental scams, and employment scams, etc, with a total loss amounting to US$225 million. A total of 32 607 bank accounts were frozen, and approximately US$20 million fraudulent funds were intercepted, effectively disrupting criminal cash flows. Enforcement details of the countries and regions are set out in the Annex.
Investigation revealed that scam trends show notable similarities across different jurisdictions. For instance, the impersonation of customer service representatives emerged as a widespread scam tactic in Hong Kong in 2024 and the trend started to drop in 2025 after police intervention. However, similar fraudulent schemes employing identical scripts and excuses to deceive citizens into monetary losses began to appear in Singapore and Macao SAR in 2025. This underscores the critical need for cross-jurisdictional collaboration and intelligence sharing to combat scam syndicates effectively.
The Cross-border Anti-Scam Collaboration Platform “FRONTIER+” was jointly established by various anti-scam centres in October 2024. As of now, the platform includes anti-scam centres from 10 countries and regions, namely Australia, Canada, Hong Kong SAR, Indonesia, Macao SAR, Malaysia, the Maldives, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand. By strengthening intelligence exchange and coordinated actions, the platform aims to combat scams, cyber-related crimes and money laundering. The platform will continue to conduct real-time intelligence analysis and sharing, carry out cross-border joint operations from time to time, and expand its network by inviting more countries and regions to join in order to enhance enforcement efficiency.
Members of the public are urged to remain vigilant against scams at all times and to exercise caution in their financial transactions. Avoid hastily clicking on hyperlinks, downloading mobile applications, or logging into suspicious websites. If in doubt, the public is advised to verify suspicious information or websites using “Scameter” on CyberDefender’s website (cyberdefender.hk/en-us/scameter/), or the mobile app “Scameter+”; or to call the “Anti-Scam Helpline 18222” for enquiries