Hong Kong Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu hosts a news conference at the Central Government Offices at Tamar, Hong Kong, Oct 16, 2020. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s overall crime rate in the first eight months of this year was up 25 percent year-on-year, with the number of fraud cases doubled to 10,534, said the city’s security chief on Friday. 

READ MORE: Hong Kong's crime rate up 28% in first half

The total number of crime cases climbed to 42,526, with the violent crime rate rising 13 percent, Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu told a press conference.

The social unrest since last June has affected the overall public order, as police manpower and resources were deployed to deal with violent protesters, opening up opportunities for other criminals, said Hong Kong security chief John Lee

He said many fraud cases involved overseas culprits and expected the rate of deception to continue to remain high in Hong Kong.

Lee said the social unrest since last June has affected the overall public order, as police manpower and resources were deployed to deal with violent protesters, opening up opportunities for other criminals.

Lee also said that exposure to online scammers has increased because more people are staying home to avoid violent acts and the risk of catching COVID-19. 

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There were significant increases in online shopping, email scams and online dating during the period. Rises were also recorded in robbery, theft and blackmail, Lee said. The overall crime detection rate was 32.8 percent, down 7 percent from a year earlier.

With Xinhua inputs