HK privacy watchdog drops anti-fraud campaign targeting tertiary students

Hong Kong's privacy watchdog has launched a series of anti-fraud promotional and educational activities targeting tertiary students, as the new academic year approaches. 

As part of the campaign, an animated video and a school tour featuring anti-fraud educational talks and exhibitions have been rolled out, with a view to raising the awareness of preventing fraud and protecting personal data privacy among tertiary students.

The anti-fraud animated video aims to remind students to stay calm and avoid disclosing personal data casually when they receive suspicious calls or messages. Within the video, students are also reminded to verify the identity of the caller or the veracity of the relevant organisation through other means.

Set against the backdrop of a university campus, the video portrays a student who receives a phone call from someone impersonating a Mainland security official, claiming to be investigating into a money laundering case. The scammer seeks to swindle the student out of personal data and money.

The video, available in Cantonese, Mandarin and English, has been uploaded to the the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD)’s official YouTube channel and social media platforms, and will be disseminated to tertiary institutions for on-campus screening.

In addition, since February this year, the PCPD has conducted a school touring of anti-fraud educational talks for tertiary students. Up to the present, 10 talks in Cantonese, Mandarin or English have been conducted for major universities in Hong Kong, reaching approximately 3,200 students.

Speakers share examples of different fraud cases with the participants and offer practical tips on protecting personal data while using smartphones, instant messaging applications and social media. As part of orientation activities, the PCPD will deliver anti-fraud talks toCity University of Hong Kong, The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and will continue to engage with other tertiary institutions in arranging talks on fraud prevention.

Separately, the watchdog will collaborate with the Office of the Communications Authority in the new academic year to organise exhibitions on fraud prevention and personal data privacy protection at the campuses of Hong Kong Shue Yan University, The Education University of Hong Kong and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in order to deliver anti-fraud messages to students.

The PCPD also collaborates with the Regional Crime Prevention Office, Kowloon East Region of the Hong Kong Police Force, to develop an anti-scam survey for freshmen at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology to enhance their awareness.

In fact, Hong Kong saw a surge in fraud cases in the first four months of 2025, according to security chief Chris Tang. Among the 28,152 crimes in the first four months of the year, most crime figures declined except fraud cases, which increased by 9% YoY to reach 13,115 cases.

Online scams and telephone scams increased by 17% and 26% respectively, said Tang, adding that the rise in online scams was mainly driven by increases in online job search and online shopping scams, particularly the new "brushing" scam, where scammers randomly add people to instant messaging groups, claiming they can earn commissions by swiping orders or following celebrity accounts. They then use the commissions to trick people into opening accounts on fake websites and ultimately defraud them of their money.

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