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NOPE
Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

Hong Kong police report deepfake romance-investment fraud targeting people across Asia

Hong Kong police described a syndicate that used deepfake romantic personas to induce investments by people in Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. SCMP reported alleged criminal proceeds exceeding HK$34 million and a January 2025 operation arresting thirty-one suspects. An official police budget reply separately identifies that January operation and the amount involved. The Standard reported on 10 February 2026 that police had charged nine more suspects, bringing the number prosecuted to 14, all for conspiracy to defraud and four also for dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence. No verdict or sentence is reported in the sources read. The first scam date, number of affected people and individual loss allocations are unknown. A different October 2024 operation involving twenty-seven arrests is kept separate.

AI system
Unidentified image and video tool
Unknown
Occurred
Event date unknown
Reported
5 January 2025
Event location
Hong Kong SAR China
What the AI did
Communicated with the person
Reported harm
Financial Loss
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Finance · Relationships
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources, 1 underlying account
7 claims: 7 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
Not reliably quantifiable from the sources

AI system as recorded: Reported AI deepfake romance personas

What Happened

SCMP (5 January 2025) reported that Hong Kong police had arrested 31 people of a local syndicate that produced deepfake romance and investment scams to defraud victims in Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia, with criminal proceeds exceeding HK$34 million. According to the police account in SCMP, the syndicate worked from two premises in industrial buildings in Kowloon Bay; scammers appeared to have downloaded images of women from social media without their permission and used deepfake technology to merge photos and create images and videos for fake dating-app personas, and some used deepfakes to disguise themselves during video calls with victims. Victims were first drawn into a romantic relationship with a fake persona and then asked to invest in a sham virtual assets platform. Police said the number of victims and the amount of individual losses were still being reviewed. SCMP reported that five of those arrested would be brought to Eastern Court and that the remaining 26 were released on bail.

A police reply to a Legislative Council question on the 2025-26 Estimates separately identifies the January 2025 operation: 31 people arrested, including the masterminds and core members, with a total of $34 million involved, and a syndicate that used deepfake technology to engage in online dating to lure victims in various parts of Asia to invest in fraudulent cryptocurrency platforms. The same reply says the Force does not maintain figures on the number of related prosecutions.

The Standard (10 February 2026) reported that police charged nine additional suspects that day, bringing the number prosecuted in the case to 14, including the alleged mastermind, the person in charge of the scam centres and three core members. All 14 face charges of conspiracy to defraud and four also face charges of dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence; the cases were scheduled to appear at Eastern Magistrates' Courts the next day. According to police as reported by The Standard, the group used AI-generated images and videos and in some cases made video calls using deepfake technology, the fake investment platforms were controlled by overseas criminal groups, and victims lost their entire investments. No plea, verdict or sentence is reported in the sources read.

A different October 2024 operation involving twenty-seven arrests is kept separate.

Reported harm

Police-reported investment fraud with more than HK$34 million in alleged proceeds; according to police as reported by The Standard, victims lost their entire investments.

Outcome

Ongoing

Police arrested 31 people in early January 2025; SCMP reported that five would be brought to Eastern Court and 26 were released on bail. The Standard reported on 10 February 2026 that nine more suspects had been charged, bringing the number prosecuted to 14: all for conspiracy to defraud, four also for dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence, with an appearance at Eastern Magistrates' Courts scheduled for the next day. No plea, verdict or sentence is reported in the sources read.

What remains unknown

  • The first scam date, target count and per-person losses are unknown.
  • The specific tools used to make the images and videos.
  • Whether any money was recovered: The Standard's opening sentence speaks of recovering over HK$34 million in losses, while the police reply and SCMP give HK$34 million as the amount involved or the criminal proceeds.
  • The outcome of the prosecutions: no plea, verdict or sentence is reported in the sources read, and the police reply says the Force does not maintain figures on the number of related prosecutions.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The police attribute this syndicate's operation to deepfake technology: the Force's written reply says the syndicate used deepfake technology to engage in online dating, SCMP reports police saying deepfake technology was used to create images and videos for the personas and to disguise scammers during video calls, and The Standard reports AI-generated images and videos. The official and journalistic sources relay one police chain; they are not independent technical verification, and the tools are not identified.

7 claims: 7 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported The official police reply identifies a January 2025 operation against a deepfake scam syndicate, with thirty-one arrests and HK$34 million involved.

Causal attribution. The Force's own written reply to a Legislative Council question. The police account as reported; the sources relay one police chain and no court record was inspected. Causation is alleged.

  • police.gov.hk(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'In January 2025, the Force launched another intelligence-led operation, dismantling a criminal syndicate that used deepfake technology to perpetrate scams. A total of 31 persons, including the masterminds and core members, were arrested, with a total of $34 million involved.'; 'online dating to lure victims in various parts of Asia to invest in fraudulent cryptocurrency platforms'
Reported SCMP reports that the syndicate defrauded victims in Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia, with criminal proceeds exceeding HK$34 million.

Causal attribution. The police account as reported; the sources relay one police chain and no court record was inspected. Causation is alleged.

  • scmp.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Hong Kong police have arrested 31 people of a local syndicate that produced deepfake romance and investment scams to defraud victims in Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia, with criminal proceeds exceeding HK$34 million (US$4.37 million).'; 'the number of victims and amount of individual losses were still being reviewed'
Reported The report identifies a separate October 2024 deepfake syndicate operation rather than treating its twenty-seven arrests as this group.

Causal attribution. The police account as reported; the sources relay one police chain and no court record was inspected. Causation is alleged.

  • scmp.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The operation marked the second time a local syndicate using deepfake technology to defraud victims had been busted.'; 'The force arrested 27 last October for attempting to lure men into investing in sham cryptocurrency platforms by using deepfake technology to impersonate attractive women.'
  • police.gov.hk(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The case involved more than $360 million, with 27 persons arrested'
Reported According to police, the scammers appeared to have downloaded images of women from social media without their permission and used deepfake technology to merge photos and create images and videos for fake dating-app personas, and some used deepfakes to disguise themselves during video calls with victims, who were drawn into a romantic relationship and then asked to invest in a sham virtual assets platform.

Causal attribution. The police account as reported; the sources relay one police chain and no court record was inspected. Causation is alleged.

  • scmp.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'scammers appeared to have downloaded images of women from social media without their permission, before using deepfake technology to merge various photos together and create images and videos used in the fake dating app personas'; 'some had used deepfakes to disguise themselves during video calls with victims'; 'Victims would first be lured into developing a romantic relationship with a fake online persona, before scammers would ask them to invest in a sham virtual assets platform based overseas.'
  • thestandard.com.hk(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The group employed AI-generated images and videos and, in some cases, conducted video calls using deepfake technology'; 'Members used AI deepfake technology to create fake online identities and target victims on dating platforms.'
Reported The Standard reported on 10 February 2026 that police charged nine additional suspects that day, bringing the number prosecuted in the case to 14, including the alleged mastermind; all 14 face charges of conspiracy to defraud, four also face charges of dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence, and the cases were scheduled to appear at Eastern Magistrates' Courts the next day.

Causal attribution. The Standard's report of the police account of the charges; charges are allegations and no court record was inspected.

  • thestandard.com.hk(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Hong Kong police charged nine additional suspects on Tuesday in a cross-border deepfake cryptocurrency fraud case, bringing the total prosecuted to 14'; 'including the alleged mastermind, the person in charge of the scam centers, and three core members of the syndicate'; 'All 14 face charges of conspiracy to defraud. Four also face additional charges of dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offense.'; 'The cases are scheduled to appear at Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on Wednesday.'; 'A total of 31 people, including a Hong Kong Premier League footballer, were arrested earlier in the operation.'; 'in two units of industrial buildings in Kowloon Bay'
Reported According to police as reported by The Standard, victims were directed to fake online platforms controlled by overseas criminal groups and lost their entire investments.

Causal attribution. The police account as reported; the sources relay one police chain and no court record was inspected. Causation is alleged.

  • thestandard.com.hk(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Victims were then directed to fake online platforms promising high returns'; 'Police said the fake platforms were controlled by overseas criminal groups, with all promised returns fictitious. Victims ultimately lost their entire investments.'
Reported SCMP reported in January 2025 that five of those arrested would be brought to Eastern Court and that the remaining 26 were released on bail as investigations continued.

Causal attribution. The police account as reported; the sources relay one police chain and no court record was inspected. Causation is alleged.

  • scmp.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Five of the arrestees will be brought to Eastern Court on Monday. The remaining 26 arrestees were released on bail as investigations continued.'

Sources

4 sources inspected, from 1 underlying account. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in English on 2026-10-05 (HTTP 200): the Force's replies to initial written questions raised by Legislative Council Members in examining the Estimates of Expenditure 2025-26, Security Bureau session; the passage is in the reply to a question on AI-related deception. Applies to s1.

Read in English on 2026-10-05 from an Internet Archive capture dated 25 July 2026 (the live page returned HTTP 403). South China Morning Post, published 5 January 2025; reports statements by named police officers. Applies to s2.

Read in English on 2026-10-05 (HTTP 200). Cryptopolitan, 5 January 2025; a rewrite of the same police account. No claim rests on it, and its asset figure differs from SCMP's. Applies to s3.

Read live in English on 2026-10-05 (HTTP 200). The Standard (Hong Kong), published 10 February 2026 at 20:29 HKT; reports the police account of the charges, so it is the same chain as the other sources. Applies to s4.

Event countries: Hong Kong SAR China. Affected-person countries: Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia. Court countries: Hong Kong SAR China.

The scam bases were in two premises in Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong, which police raided during the arrest operation (SCMP; The Standard); police reporting identifies affected people in Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia (SCMP). The charges are before Eastern Magistrates' Courts in Hong Kong (The Standard).

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-05: Published as a police-reported fraud in which AI-generated personas were used to deceive people into investing: an official police reply and press reports of the police account describe the January 2025 operation, the amount involved and the locations of the people targeted. Statements remain attributed to the police, no person is named, and unknown dates, counts and technical details are preserved. Updated on 2026-10-05 to add The Standard's report that 14 people had been prosecuted by 10 February 2026; all claims remain reported.

People described

People in Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia approached through dating apps by fake personas (number not established)

People reported harmed in this case

Not reliably quantifiable from the sources

No victim number is established in inspected passages: SCMP reports police saying the number of victims and individual losses were still being reviewed. Both numeric fields are zero with unquantified status; suspects, arrests, people charged and seized assets are not harmed-person counts.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Hong Kong police report deepfake romance-investment fraud targeting people across Asia. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2025-hong-kong-police-report-deepfake-romance-investment-syndicate

BibTeX

@misc{2025_hong_kong_police_report_deepfake_romance_investment_syndicate,
  title = {Hong Kong police report deepfake romance-investment fraud targeting people across Asia},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2025-hong-kong-police-report-deepfake-romance-investment-syndicate}
}

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