Fraudsters have become more brazen in impersonating victims in Hong Kong, with some scammers posing as a deputy police commissioner demanding a “reward” and as officers from the force’s own anti-fraud unit, authorities have warned.

The force revealed on Monday that it had received 734 reports of fraudsters impersonating officers in the first nine months of the year, an 8.1 per cent increase on the 679 reports in the same period last year. Losses in the first nine months of the year reached HK$788 million ($101 million), it added.

Last week, the force received a report that a fraudster was posing as Deputy Police Commissioner Johnson Chan Joon-sun, accusing the victim of a crime and instructing them to hand over HK$250,000 as a “reward”.

Senior Inspector Wan Pik-yee said scammers usually add victims to a WhatsApp chat group, changing their name and display image to the Anti-Fraud Coordination Center logo and impersonating law enforcement authorities.

“Scammers would accuse victims of being involved in money laundering or other crimes and ask them to provide their personal information, such as their ID numbers, bank account information and funds transfer as collateral,” she said.

Wan warned that officers at the center would never ask residents to reveal such information, nor would they request the transfer of funds or meetings outside of police stations.