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Following is a question by the Hon Lau Wong-fat and a reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, in the Legislative Council today (January 10):
Question:
In recent years, culprits of street deceptions have employed many different defrauding tricks, for instance, by making excuses such as seeking spiritual blessings for removing misfortunes for the victims, sharing with the victims a large sum of money found on the street, and jointly buying and reselling magic drugs or high-tech components with the victims to make a profit, etc. Earlier, there was also a case in which a woman reported that she had been cheated of her life savings of more than a million dollars. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of street deception cases reported to the Police last year and the number of such cases solved by the Police, as well as the penalties imposed on the convicts; and
(b) whether it has assessed the effectiveness of the measures taken to combat street deceptions by non-locals in Hong Kong, and whether any new measures will be put in place?
Reply:
Madam President:
In 2006 (up to November), the Police received reports of 201 street deception cases. In the same period, 21 such cases were detected, with penalties of two to four years of imprisonment imposed.
The Police adopt a three-pronged strategy to combat street deception, including prevention of such cases, carrying out intelligence-led operations, and conducting prompt investigations.
In respect of prevention, besides raising the awareness of members of the public by making use of the different media, District Response Teams have been established to strengthen the liaison with banks and elderly day care centres, etc. to increase the alertness of relevent persons, especially the elderly. The Police also regularly mount intelligence-led operations, and cooperate with the Immigration Department to enable monitoring of the activities of suspected fraudsters when they enter Hong Kong. Contact is also maintained with the Mainland authorities to deal with Mainland-based syndicates. Moreover, where appropriate, the Police will handle street deception cases centrally at regional / district levels for more effective investigation of such crimes.
The measures taken above have been fairly effective. In recent years, there has been a decreasing trend of street deception, both in the number of reported cases and the amount of reported losses in such cases. For example, the number of reported cases has decreased gradually from 479 in 2004, 393 in 2005, to 201 in the first 11 months of 2006. The Police will continue to closely monitor the situation, and take corresponding measures where necessary to combat street deception activities.
Ends/Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Issued at HKT 12:15
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