Police Commissioner Raymond Siu Chak-yee said on Thursday that residents risk losing their life savings to scams in some cases, urging them to use the anti-scam mobile app and the force’s hotline if they have doubts or have received messages suspicious.

“The reason we are putting so much effort into an anti-scam sweepstakes, launching another round after the first, is because we hope everyone can make full use of these tools,” Siu said during an awards ceremony for raffle winners.

“Saving a minute or two could prevent you from losing your life’s hard-earned savings to vile scammers.”

The chief constable was referring to the force’s anti-fraud hotline and its Scameter app, which flags suspicious websites, phone numbers and bank accounts.

Superintendent Baron Chan Shun-ching of the cyber security and technology crime force’s office said the app had been downloaded a further 170,000 times since the raffle was introduced late last month.