2024/10/28

●2024% of crimes occurring in Hong Kong in the first half of 44 were fraud cases. Please be particularly careful of remittance scams, online scams, investment scams, etc. targeting Japanese companies. If you have accidentally remitted money, immediately file a police report and ask the recipient bank to freeze the account.
●There have been many cases of credit card information being stolen. Please be careful and check the details of bills sent by your credit card company frequently.
●There have been reports of an increase in thefts of valuables carried on board aircraft to Hong Kong. Please do not place valuables on the luggage racks, but keep them within your sight.

1 Hong Kong has a low serious crime rate and is a relatively safe city compared to other countries in the world. However, the number of crimes has been increasing in recent years, mainly due to an increase in fraud cases. According to police statistics, the number of crimes in the first half of 2024 was 45,315, of which 19,897 were fraud cases, accounting for approximately 44% of the total, and 11,529 were theft cases, including pickpocketing and snatching, accounting for approximately 25% of the total. In light of this situation, we would like to inform you of the main safety measures for various crimes to avoid becoming a victim of crime here.

2. Fraud cases
According to statistics from police authorities, fraud cases account for 4% of all crimes. In addition to remittance fraud cases using telephone and email targeting Japanese companies located in the area that have been occurring since around April 2021, various types of fraud cases have been occurring, such as online fraud and investment fraud. Therefore, we ask that you please be aware of the following points regarding fraud.
(1) If you receive instructions to transfer funds to your account via telephone or email, you should first consult a third party (such as a family member or relative, a person in your company, the Consulate-General of Japan, or the Hong Kong Police's 24-hour fraud advice hotline (18222)) before making the transfer.
(2) Using the contact information you have on hand, contact the caller or the email address of the relevant department to confirm the facts (be careful not to call numbers you do not recognize).
(3) Regarding scams, new methods have recently emerged in which perpetrators impersonate telephone company customer service staff or pretend to be lawyers and say they will recover damages from fraud. Therefore, be cautious if you receive phone calls or emails of this nature.
(4) Appeal to those around you (family members, coworkers, etc.) to be especially vigilant about fraud cases and raise awareness of crime prevention.
(5) If you suspect that you have fallen victim to a fraudulent scam via telephone or other means, please immediately consult with the police and file a report of the crime, and also notify the sender's and receiver's banks that you have filed a report of the crime with the police. Specifically, if the remittance account is in Hong Kong, it is important that the account be frozen immediately as an initial step. Therefore, immediately gather evidence, go to the police, file a report of the crime, and have the police issue a police report on the spot. Take this to the bank that holds the account and request that the account be frozen.

3. Credit card information theft
According to police statistics, there have been many cases of credit card information theft caused by phishing scams (illegal acquisition of credit card information by getting customers to enter credit card information on false internet sites) and hacking of point-of-sale (POS) terminal systems (stealing customers' credit card information). It has been reported that the third largest amount of credit card information traded on the dark web in the world is issued in Hong Kong, after the United States and Australia. Therefore, please be aware of the following points regarding the theft of credit card information.
(1) When using a credit card, use a trusted online shop and make online payments only on websites that are encrypted with "https."
(2) Do not log in to online banking or enter credit card information from a public computer or free Wi-Fi. Also, do not enter credit card information or security codes on apps or websites you have not seen before.
(3) Be wary of phishing sites and emails, and do not click on attachments or links in suspicious emails.
(4) Check the charges you receive from your credit card company and report any suspicious charges to your card company.
(5) Be careful when handling and managing personal information, including credit card information, and do not provide one-time passwords required for online payments to third parties.

4. Cases of theft on aircraft
According to police statistics, the number of thefts in the first half of 2024 increased slightly by 2023% compared to the first half of 3.9. However, there are reports that between January and August of this year, there were 1 cases of theft of valuables carried as carry-on luggage on aircraft to Hong Kong, an increase of 8% compared to the same period last year. Therefore, please keep your valuables within your reach while on the aircraft (do not put wallets, watches, precious metals, etc. in luggage stored in the overhead bins).

5. Pickpocketing and snatching
Anyone can become a victim of theft, including pickpocketing and snatch theft, so please keep the following points in mind:
(1) Do not carry bags on the side facing the road; carry them on the side facing the building. If you are carrying a shoulder bag, carry it across your body.
(2) At night, choose roads that are as bright as possible and have a lot of people walking. Also, if you hear the sound of a motorcycle or other engine behind you, be cautious.
(3) Refrain from walking while doing other things, such as using a smartphone or listening to music, as this makes it difficult to understand your surroundings.
(4) When traveling to places where third parties may be present, including when using public transportation, be sure to take care of your belongings.

6. For further reference, please see below regarding safety measures, etc.
○Embassy website: "Hong Kong Safety Guide"
https://www.hk.emb-japan.go.jp/files/100189268.pdf
○The Embassy's website: "Hong Kong Safety Guide [Supplementary Edition] - Responding to Emergencies"
https://www.hk.emb-japan.go.jp/files/000529744.pdf

◆◆◆Contact information◆◆◆
"Consulate-General of Japan in Hong Kong (Consular Section)"
Main phone number: 2522-1184 From overseas (area code 852) 2522-1184
Address: 46/F, One Exchange Square, 8 Connaught Place, Central, Hong Kong
46th Floor, First Building, Exchange Square, No.XNUMX, Concorde Plaza, Central, Hong Kong
home page:https://www.hk.emb-japan.go.jp/itprtop_ja/index.html

Situations deemed to be emergencies
The Embassy will respond 24 hours a day, including weekends and holidays, in the event of an emergency, so please contact us at the main telephone number listed above.
If you call the main phone number during closing hours (including weekends and holidays), you will hear an automated voice response, but if you select "In case of emergency" in response to the automated voice response, the main phone number will be transferred to the emergency contact call center. If for any reason the main phone number is not successfully transferred to the emergency contact call center, please contact us at (852) 5803-0437.