Photo: Screenshot from Xiaohongshu

The Anti-Deception Coordination Centre (ADCC) of the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF), China Mobile Hong Kong's s/ash brand and Chinese lifestyle-focused social media platform Xiaohongshu last Wednesday jointly held their first online anti-scam livestream for mainland students planning to study or already studying in the Hong Kong amid a rise in scams targeting the group, Hong Kong local media outlets reported. 

Preoccupied with matters such as visas and academic studies, newly arrived mainland students in Hong Kong are particularly vulnerable to scams due to their unfamiliarity with local systems and channels for seeking assistance and limited access to reliable information. The main types of fraud targeting these students include phone, rental, job and romance-investment scams, as well as "virtual kidnapping" scams targeting their families, local media outlet HK01 reported. 

According to statistics from the ADCC, Hong Kong recorded 512 scam cases involving mainland students in the first eight months of 2026, resulting in losses of HK$110 million ($14.02 million). 

University students, particularly Chinese mainland students in their first year of study in Hong Kong, are increasingly targeted by scams involving impostors posing as government officials or customer service representatives, police said. A PhD student was defrauded of HK$5 million in an impersonation scam after fraudsters posing as immigration department officers tricked the victim into downloading the Microsoft Teams app, signing a confidentiality agreement, agreeing to round-the-clock surveillance and borrowing money from family members under the pretext of funding an exchange program in the US, according to HK01. 

Zhang Ting, a Shanghai resident whose son is a freshman at the University of Hong Kong, told the Global Times on Sunday that all her family members have received scam phone calls since her son's enrollment at the university. The scammers posing as Hong Kong immigration officers contact them under the pretext of issuing summonses or penalty notices. 

Zhang thinks anti-scam campaigns organized by the Hong Kong police and the educational institutions are essential and very helpful to mainland students. She and her family will continue to follow such campaigns, particularly those highlighting emerging scams involving AI technology. 

During the livestream, an ADCC official outlined common and AI-powered scams through real-life cases, urging students to follow the "hang up, verify, seek help" advice and use official resources, including the Scameter app and anti-scam helpline, to better protect themselves. 

The initiative moves beyond traditional anti-scam awareness campaigns by bringing police and corporate partners together. Drawing on social media platforms popular among mainland students and business partners' networks, it aims to make anti-scam education more engaging through formats young people famor, including livestreams, interactive Q&A sessions and real-life case studies, Hong Kong-based Bauhinia Magazine reported. 

The organizers said the anti-scam class was the first initiative in a broader campaign, which will later be expanded to university and college campuses. Plans include an upcoming territory-wide "Dem Beat anti-scam competition" with the aim of continuously raising awareness of scam prevention among non-local students studying in Hong Kong, according to HK01.