Hong Kong, Feb 15 (IANS): More than 19,000 fraud cases were reported in Hong Kong in 2021, an increase of 24 per cent from the previous year, the police said.

The police said that under the Covid-19 pandemic situation, more people and organisations have turned to contact online or multimedia channels, and scammers also used the Internet and social media platforms to commit crimes, reports Xinhua news agency.

Fraud cases in Hong Kong jumped nearly 24 per cent last year to 19,249 cases, more than 70 per cent of which were related to online fraud, according to police reports.

The number of telephone fraud cases dropped 53 to 1,140, but the amount of losses involved rose 41 per cent to HK$810 million ($103 million).

The police said that the number of online dating investment fraud cases also increased.

In 2021, the Hong Kong police and the mainland and overseas law enforcement agencies conducted a series of intelligence-led joint operations and busted a number of cross-border fraud groups, involving more than 260 online and telephone fraud cases in Hong Kong, and arrested 85 people.

Moreover, five large-scale investment fraud cases involving more than HK$2 billion were detected with assets of HK$1.4 billion being frozen.