Whatsapp Game-point Scam Nets Millions Of Dollars

Police have warned of a surge in a scam using Whatsapp. They say conmen are taking control of people's accounts and using them to dupe their friends into buying game points, which the scammers then resell.

The number of cases rocketed to over nearly 592 last year from only 42 in 2017.

The victims are said to have lost HK$6.4 million. One victim alone lost 430,000 dollars in one month.

Lau Ka-ho, an acting superintendent of the cyber security and technology crime bureau, said: "Whenever those targets receive a Whatsapp message from his friends or relatives, he or she will believe that the request is made by them, instead of the scammers.

"So this is one of the reasons they are easily made to believe the messages on the hijacked Whatsapp account."

Police say although there were fewer such cases reported in the first three months of the year, the amount of money swindled double.