Following is a question by the Hon Paul Tse and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung, in the Legislative Council today (September 25):
 
Question:
 
     It has been reported that some merchants offer for sale a wide variety of forged Hong Kong general certification documents, including tertiary institution student cards, graduation certificates, Hong Kong identity cards, warrant cards of disciplined services, parking permit stickers of various clubs and even counterfeit Closed Road Permits ( Closed Area Permit) on Mainland e-commerce platforms. In addition, some media have uncovered that there are numerous merchants on Mainland e-commerce platforms offering false Hong Kong utility bills for water, electricity and gas, along with fabricated pay slips and tenancies for use as proof of address. Some sellers even use genuine Hong Kong address information on such false bills. It is also pointed out that residents are unaware that their addresses have been stolen. There are views that the sale of such diverse, hard-to-verify false Hong Kong certification documents and bills has become seriously prevalent. At the same time, on his personal social media, the current Vice-Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and former Chief Executive of Hong Kong wrote that "integrity, business reputation and law-abiding awareness are the advantages upon which Hong Kong relies for its survival. Any counterfeit Hong Kong-related items should be removed from shelves." He also called on the involved Mainland e-commerce platforms to "make money with integrity and not to damage the reputation of all Chinese merchants." In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) regarding Mainland merchants' illegal sale of false Hong Kong certification documents and bills, apart from the aforesaid urge made personally by the Vice-Chairman of the CPPCC and former Chief Executive, of the Government's policies to address the issue;
 
(2) whether any investigation has been conducted into whether the aforesaid sale of false certification documents and bills has led to a large number of lawbreakers committing fraud, enrolling in schools, engaging in employment, opening bank or financial accounts, or obtaining social services and benefits in Hong Kong; if investigation has been conducted, of the details, and whether any successful prosecutions have been made;
 
(3) as it has been reported that nearly a thousand post-secondary students were defrauded of over $100 million in the first half of this year, with "Hong Kong drifter" students making up half of the victims, whether the authorities have investigated or assessed the connection between numerous cases involving people coming to Hong Kong from the Mainland being defrauded of substantial amounts of money and the use of false certification documents or bills, such as whether anyone used forged law enforcement credentials to commit fraud in Hong Kong, or whether any victims, after gaining employment or admission to institutions using false certification documents, illegally transferred Mainland funds to Hong Kong, thus falling into scams out of fear of investigations by Mainland law enforcement agencies; if the authorities have, of the number of similar cases detected;
 
(4) of the measures or policies in place to safeguard the aforesaid "advantages upon which Hong Kong relies for its survival" and protect Hong Kong's integrity, business reputation and law-abiding awareness, and to ensure that Mainland e-commerce platforms will "make money with integrity" and eliminate all goods involving false Hong Kong certification documents; and
 
(5) whether any research or assessment has been conducted on how the aforesaid rampant sale of false certificates and documents and countless counterfeit goods sold in Hong Kong such as false Cordyceps seeds, counterfeit drinking water and counterfeit wall tiles, as well as many students and professionals found to have used forged academic documents, have impacted the "honour system" upheld by Hong Kong for years; whether the authorities will change from the previous trust-based philosophy when formulating policies in the future, so as to strengthen safeguards against such illegal activities?

Reply:
 
President,
 
     Deception is a serious crime. Any person who commits the offence of "fraud" under section 16A of the Theft Ordinance (Cap. 210) is liable to imprisonment for up to 14 years, while any person charged with "obtaining property by deception" under section 17 of the same Ordinance is liable to imprisonment for up to 10 years. Sections 71 to 75 of the Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 200) provide that the maximum penalty for making, using or possessing a false instrument is imprisonment for 14 years. In addition, any person charged with "dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of indictable offence" under section 25 of the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 455) for proceeds of deception is liable to maximum penalties of 14 years' imprisonment and a fine of $5 million.
 
     Regardless of whether deception takes place online or offline and the tactics used, the Government will take stern enforcement actions and there will be no tolerance as long as there are illegal activities involved.
 
     The reply to the Member's question is as follows:
 
(1) and (2) The Government has noticed that some merchants have been selling forged certification documents and other suspected false instruments via online platforms recently. We express great concern over such suspected illegal activities.
 
     Firstly, using a false instrument to deceive or committing the aforesaid offences under the Theft Ordinance (Cap. 210) carries a maximum penalty of imprisonment for 14 years. In addition, under the Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 200), making, selling or using a false instrument (including forged certification documents, certificates, bills and tenancies as mentioned in the question) is a serious crime. A person who makes a false instrument, or uses or possesses an instrument (or a copy of it) which is and which he knows or believes to be false, with the intention to induce somebody to accept it as genuine and, as a result, to do or not to do some act to his own or any other person's prejudice, is liable on conviction to imprisonment for up to 14 years.
 
     As a matter of fact, the Hong Kong Police Force has been taking stringent enforcement actions against crimes relating to forgery of documents. From January to July 2025, the Police received a total of 546 cases involving forgery of documents and arrested 337 persons. In the first quarter of 2025, trials for 46 cases initiated in respect of relevant crimes were concluded. The conviction rate was about 85 per cent.
 
     Targeting cross-border crimes involving the making and using of false Hong Kong identity cards (HKICs), the Police conducted an operation in collaboration with the Hong Kong Immigration Department (ImmD) and relevant law enforcement agencies of the Mainland in August, arresting a total of 42 persons in the Mainland and Hong Kong. A production base of forged HKICs was smashed in Shenzhen, where some 60 finished items of forged certification documents, as well as raw materials and tools for producing forged documents, were seized.
 
     The Police have all long maintained close co-operation with Mainland public security authorities and established an intelligence exchange mechanism to combat relevant cross-border crimes. The Police recently noticed and suspected that some unscrupulous merchants were selling forged certification documents and bills of Hong Kong on Mainland online platforms. Mainland public security authorities were immediately notified of such, and the platforms concerned were requested to act promptly to remove the relevant posts and take further follow up actions. While the Police have not observed a significant upward trend in this modus operandi at this stage, we will not let our guard down. The Police will continue to pay attention to such modus operandi and maintain close co-operation with relevant Mainland authorities to combat these crimes.
 
(3) New arrivals to Hong Kong, in particular Mainland students coming to Hong Kong for studies, are more prone to becoming victims of fraud because they are unfamiliar with Hong Kong's systems, fraud situation and ways of seeking help. Impersonating government officials is one of the common tactics employed to defraud this group. To tackle such fraudulent activities (whether forged identification cards of government officials are involved or not), the Police have been taking stringent enforcement actions. From January to August 2025, the Police received 584 fraud cases involving impersonation of government officials, which represents a decrease of 10.2 per cent from the same period last year. The monetary loss incurred has significantly dropped by 64.7 per cent, showing the effectiveness of the Police's fraud prevention efforts on all fronts.
 
     Besides law enforcement, raising public awareness is also of vital importance. On publicity and education, the Police have devised targeted anti-fraud strategies for various groups. In collaboration with the National Immigration Administration, the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security and the ImmD, the Police have produced anti-fraud video clips showing the modus operandi of fraudsters impersonating government officials, with a view to heightening the alertness of the new arrivals. Starting from June 2025, the videos are broadcast across boundary control points, exit-entry service halls in the Mainland as well as social media platforms including Xiaohongshu and Douyin.
 
     To provide strengthened protection particularly for students who newly arrive in Hong Kong, the Police and the National Anti-Fraud Center have jointly organised both online and offline sharing sessions for the students and their parents. Informative materials on fraud prevention have also been distributed to parents. To continue to step up publicity and education for them after their arrival, the Police have collaborated with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University to conduct a survey on the awareness of fraud among university students earlier. Of the over 3 000 replies collected, it was found that nearly 85 per cent of the respondents have enrolled in the anti-scam online learning package, with the participation rate of Mainland students exceeding 90 per cent. For students who had completed the learning package, the number who fell prey to fraud and suffered monetary loss were 58 per cent lower than those who had never enrolled in the learning package. The Police will continue to co-ordinate with institutions and arrange for new students' enrolment in the learning package.
 
     Since the beginning of this new school year, the Police have visited various universities to carry out anti-fraud publicity campaigns. Earlier on, the Commissioner of Police has also sent a letter to the newly arrived students and their parents through all tertiary institutions in Hong Kong, urging them to pay particular attention to several common fraud tactics and advising them of ways to guard against such fraud. They are also encouraged to make good use of the Police's Anti Scam Helpline and "Scameter+".
 
(4) and (5) The Government is committed to consolidating Hong Kong's status as a shopping paradise. To maintain consumers' confidence in shopping in Hong Kong, there are various laws in Hong Kong to protect consumers' rights and interests. The Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department (C&ED), being the principal enforcement agency of the Trade Descriptions Ordinance, carries out compliance promotion as well as publicity and education in addition to enforcement actions, with a view to combating unfair trade practices. To combat online infringement crimes, the C&ED has an Anti-Internet Piracy Team in place specifically responsible for conducting online investigations. It also operates automated online monitoring systems to conduct 24-hour online patrols and detect online infringing activities. When the sale of infringing items on online trading platforms is confirmed, the C&ED will request the removal of posts involving infringing activities from the platforms.
 
     As regards the acts of false statement and fraud, including illegal activities involving the making, using or possessing of a false instrument as elaborated above, relevant law enforcement agencies will follow up on every case stringently to bring the criminals to justice.
 
     The fight against fraud counts on the concerted efforts of the entire society (on the levels of the Government, organisations and individuals) to build an anti-fraud barrier, stay vigilant at all times and take every practicable measure to leave no chance for the fraudsters. When suspicious circumstances are identified, the public should immediately report to the Police, which will take follow-up actions seriously. The Government also reminds all members of the public not to commit any offence out of momentary greed.

Ends/Thursday, September 25, 2025
Issued at HKT 12:33

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