In a major cross-border crackdown, Hong Kong police and law enforcement agencies from six countries and regions arrested over 1,800 individuals and froze HK$157 million in fraudulent funds during a joint operation held in April and May 2025. The Hong Kong anti-scam operation was coordinated through the Frontier+ platform, a cross-border anti-scam collaboration platform.

The effort involved over 2,700 officers from Hong Kong, Macao, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Maldives, according to a China Daily report.

Authorities dismantled online shopping, phone, job, and investment scam syndicates, freezing 32,000 bank accounts, according to a news conference held in Hong Kong on Tuesday.

Wong Chun-yue, Chief Superintendent of the Commercial Crime Bureau, said that approximately 330 suspects were linked to cases involving HK$475 million were arrested in Hong Kong.

Police have reached out to overseas victims of local fraud cases via Frontier+, highlighting the platform’s importance in protecting assets across borders, Wong said.

Due to Hong Kong’s close proximity to the Chinese mainland, Wong noted that local authorities have greater familiarity with fraud cases involving mainland students.

He added that Hong Kong’s fraud prevention efforts could serve as a model for other regions that host similar student populations.

Investigation findings from the Hong Kong anti-scam operation showed that scam patterns are often similar across different regions, the Hong Kong Police said in a press release. For example, the impersonation of customer service representatives surged in Hong Kong in 2024 but declined in 2025 following police crackdowns.

However, nearly identical scams, with the same scripts and tactics to trick victims into revealing financial information, have since emerged in Singapore and Macao SAR this year. The pattern underscores the need for cross-border collaboration and intelligence sharing to effectively disrupt evolving scam syndicates.

Thai authorities reported investigating 203 scam cases and identifying 28,771 “money mules”, individuals who knowingly or unknowingly helped transfer illicit funds. They also recovered 103 million Thai baht (US$3.13 million) from 10,854 frozen accounts.

Aileen Yap, Assistant Commissioner of the Anti-Scam Command at the Singapore Police Force, said the country has recorded over 600 cases involving online subscription scams. Fraudsters posed as customer service agents, claiming residents had unknowingly subscribed to services and would be charged unless they provided their banking details to cancel.

Frontier+ is a collaborative network designed to boost information sharing and combat transnational scam syndicates. Launched in October last year, it has expanded to include anti-scam enforcement agencies from 10 countries and regions, with Australia, Canada, and Indonesia among its members.

Hong Kong police said they will continue leveraging Frontier+ for real-time intelligence sharing and cross-border operations, and plan to invite more regions to join the platform to enhance enforcement efforts.

Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Hong Kong, based on image by EyeEm via Freepik