The Hong Kong Police Force held the 2025 Bank Staff Recognition Ceremony today (March 6) to commend the banking industry for their exceptional contributions to combatting deception cases. Eighteen banks and nine bank staff received corporate awards and the Spotlight Award respectively. In addition, a total of 368 bank staff were honored with certification for assisting Police in identifying and preventing 425 scam cases in 2024.
Addressing the ceremony, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Siu Chak-yee, highlighted that global losses due to deception cases exceeded US$2 trillion over the past two years. In Hong Kong, 44 480 deception cases were recorded in 2024, marking an 11.7 per cent increase compared to 2023. This growth rate was significantly lower than the 40 per cent surge seen in previous years. Meanwhile, the total losses slightly decreased by HK$30 million, reflecting the preliminary success of the anti-deception initiatives and multi-stakeholder measures implemented over the past three years.
He pointed out that since the establishment of the Anti-Deception Coordination Centre (ADCC) in 2017, the Police and the banking sector have jointly prevented 1 340 deception cases, arrested 818 scammers and recovered over HK$14 billion in crime proceeds up to December 2024. He added that citizens who fall victim to scams not only lose money but also suffer enduring psychological trauma. He called for continued cross-sector collaboration to combat deception at its origin.
Key initiatives implemented in 2024 in cooperation between the Police and the banking industry include:
(1) Faster Payment System (FPS) High Risk Alert has been extended from the FPS to online banking, counters and automated teller machines, covering major transaction channels. Over 600 000 risk alerts were issued throughout the year.
(2) The "Upstream Scam Intervention" initiative has prevented losses exceeding HK$199 million. The programme, now covering 28 retail banks, proactively engaged potential victims and successfully halted 3 051 deception cases.
(3) In a collaborative effort to combat cross-border money laundering syndicates, the ADCC joined with ten banks to launch an arrest operation codenamed "DEEPATTACK". It dismantled money laundering syndicates operating in Hong Kong and the Mainland, resulting in 14 arrests, thwarting 103 ongoing deception cases and preventing an additional HK$24 million in losses.
(4) The Financial Intelligence Evaluation Sharing Tool (FINEST) platform, introduced by the Police and the banking industry in June 2023, enables real-time sharing of suspicious transaction data and enhances efficiency in detecting fraud and money laundering. With participating banks expanded from five to 10, FINEST has processed over 580 intelligence reports and disrupted cross-border criminal networks and stooge accounts.
Mr Siu emphasised that, Police will continue to work in close collaboration with the banking sector to fortify anti-deception measures, safeguard public assets and uphold Hong Kong’s status as an international financial hub. Gratitude was also expressed to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the Hong Kong Association of Banks (HKAB) and industry partners for their unwavering support.
In the ceremony, 11 corporate awards were presented, including Anti-Scam Excellence Award (Gold, Silver, Bronze), Exemplary Efforts in Upstream Scam Intervention Award, Award for Frontline Bank Staff Scam Intervention, Effective Collaboration with Police "Scam Response Team" Award, Effective Publicity and Education Award, Effective Regtech Application Award, and the newly introduced awards: Anti-Money Laundering Excellence Award, Outstanding STR Case Award, Award for Real Time Monitoring, Award for no. of Stooge Account Decrease and Anti-Scam Excellence Award for Digital Banks (Gold, Silver, Bronze), in recognition of banks which assisted Police in the prevention and proactive detection of deception cases (the awardees are listed in the Annex).
The officiating guests also included the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), Mr Chow Yat-ming; the Director of Crime and Security, Mr Yip Wan-lung; the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime), Ms Chung Wing-man; the Executive Director of the HKMA, Mr Raymond Chan, and the representative of the HKAB, Mr Stanley Wu.
