A kick-off ceremony of "Hong Kong Island Region – Project Scam Defender" was held by the Regional Crime Prevention Office of Hong Kong Island (RCPO HKI) in Causeway Bay on December 9 with the aim of disseminating scam prevention messages to a wider community.

With the assistance of the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau (CSTCB) and the Anti-Deception Coordination Centre, RCPO HKI collaborated with developers of four caller identification applications last July to spread crime prevention messages to over a million mobile phone users through their platforms. Moreover, RCPO HKI liaised with a chain convenience store to display anti-scam messages on the screens of its cash registers to alert customers of scams related to virtual point cards.

Officiating at the ceremony, HKI Regional Commander Yu Tat-chung presented Certificates of Working Partners to the mobile applications developers. Meanwhile, the latest versions of anti-fraud applications are available for downloading. Other officiating guests included First Vice-Chairman and Second Vice Chairman of the Teens and Elderly Mission Committee Mr So Kai-kwok and Mr Lau Chung-ming; Chairmen of District Fight Crime Committees in the Region Mr Yeung Man-lee, Mr Li Shing-kuen and Dr Yeung Wai-hong; Senior Superintendent of CSTCB Dr Law Yuet-wing; Superintendent of the Commercial Crime Bureau Chan Tin-chu; Superintendent of the Police Public Relations Branch Wong Ping-ping; as well as HKI Crime Prevention Ambassadors Det Dik and Jason Chan.

After the ceremony, a series of anti-scam publicity activities would be held at shopping malls, tertiary institutions, commercial centres, MTR stations and morning exercise spots.