HONG KONG — Hong Kong Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung has said he recently received a scam call in which the caller claimed to be from his own bureau.
In a post on his verified Facebook account, Tang wrote that the caller identified himself as a Security Bureau staff member and asked him to “assist in an investigation.”
“As soon as I heard it, I knew something was off — of course I wasn’t going to fall for it,” he wrote in the post.
Tang also uploaded a video imitating the call. In the video, a voice purporting to call from Security Bureau told him he was suspected in a mainland case and should go to the 10th floor of the government headquarters immediately.
“Security Bureau? Which section do you belong to? I’m on the 10th floor, and you can come and find me,” Tang replied in the video.
ALSO READ: 71-year-old woman loses HK$2.9m in online romance scam
He used the incident to warn residents that scammers frequently pose as government officials to harvest personal information or pressure victims into transferring money.
The Security Bureau will never call members of the public to demand payment or ask them to visit an office to “assist with an investigation,” said the security chief.
A familiar script
The tactic Tang described matches a pattern Hong Kong authorities have repeatedly flagged. Scammers spoof or claim ties to the Security Bureau or police, often telling targets they are suspected of an offense before asking for identification details or redirecting them to fake “investigating officers.”
Some variants claim a person’s identity was used to register SIM cards or bank accounts, then push victims to move their savings into “designated accounts” to prove their innocence.
READ MORE: Police chief: Overall scam cases drop, but elderly victims and losses see increase
The Hong Kong Police Force’s Anti-Deception Coordination Centre has warned that fraudsters may already know a victim’s name or ID details, but that does not make the call legitimate.
Tang’s message echoed that advice: stay calm, double-check, don’t give out data, and don’t pay.
“Scammers keep changing their methods, but the trick is always the same,” he wrote.
