Hong Kong police said more than 150 WhatsApp account hijacking scams were reported over the past two weeks, with total losses exceeding HK$15 million. One recent case involved a local company engaged in virtual currency exchange services, where an employee’s WhatsApp account was compromised.
According to information published on the police force’s CyberDefender social media platform on Oct. 16, the scammers locked the original work group, blocked its members, then recreated a fake group by copying the group photo, name, members, and profile images. Posing as a customer representative, they requested an exchange transaction.
The victim followed the usual process and first transferred cryptocurrency to a wallet designated by the fraudsters. The scam was only discovered after the company noticed the customer account had insufficient balance and called to verify the situation. The company lost more than HK$4 million in the case.
Police said fake WhatsApp groups can imitate appearance, but member phone numbers cannot be made exactly the same as those in the real group, and message timestamps also cannot be duplicated. They advised users to enable two-factor authentication, verify recipients by phone before making transfers, and avoid logging into accounts over public Wi-Fi or on public computers.
Hong Kong police said they received more than 150 reports of WhatsApp account hijacking scams over the past two weeks, with total losses exceeding HK$15 million.
According to a Oct. 16 post on the force’s CyberDefender social media platform, one recent case involved an employee at a local company engaged in virtual currency exchange services. After taking control of the employee’s WhatsApp account, the scammers locked the original work group and blocked its members, then created a fake group by copying the group photo, name, members, and profile images.
Scammers posed as a customer representative
Police said the fraudsters then posed as a customer representative and requested an exchange. Following standard practice, the victim first transferred cryptocurrency to a wallet designated by the other side. The company only realized it had been scammed after noticing that the customer account had an insufficient balance and calling to verify the matter. The loss exceeded HK$4 million.
Police outline warning signs and security advice
Police said WhatsApp groups can be faked, but member phone numbers cannot be identical to those in the genuine group, and message timestamps also cannot be replicated.
They advised users to enable two-factor authentication, verify the counterparty by phone before making transfers, and avoid logging into accounts on public Wi-Fi or public computers.
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