It’s not the kind of list that Hong Kong wants to top. But it may be the price we pay for being a premier financial hub. In a massive crackdown by law enforcement agencies from 10 jurisdictions on international scams, some US$752 million in losses have been identified, with Hong Kong accounting for 42 per cent of the total.

Hong Kong police worked with their counterparts from Brunei, Canada, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, the Maldives, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand. Together, some 3,200 officers carried out the operation in recent months, arresting more than 3,000 people in connection with 138,000 cases of mainly fraud and money laundering. These included online shopping scams, employment fraud, investment scams and telephone deception. Losses in the city were estimated at US$319 million, the highest of any jurisdiction.

The international crackdown came after the capture and extradition of alleged billionaire kingpin Chen Zhi by Cambodia to China in January. Mainland authorities have accused him of operating a pan-Asian crime network which engaged in fraud, forced sex work and illegal gambling. Many of his co-accused are Chinese nationals, just as many of his victims are, including actor Wang Xing.

Some Southeast Asian countries became sites for crime syndicates often because of relaxed visa regimes and good internet connections. But as a free port, Hong Kong makes an attractive target. Fraud is now a scourge that plagues most financial centres. Fighting such criminal networks is a top priority for local law enforcement, which must be given adequate resources. They will also need close cooperation from financial institutions and will have to educate the public about the danger.

But no city can work alone. The Financial Action Task Force has listed Hong Kong as the first jurisdiction in the Asia-Pacific to achieve compliance in countering money laundering and terrorism financing. Finance chief Paul Chan Mo-po recently attended a ministerial conference on counterterrorism financing in Paris. This is the kind of high-level international framework Hong Kong can build on. The international crackdown we have just seen needs to be sustained over time to achieve deterrence.