Content provided by British Council
[1] Hong Kong police have arrested a man related to a scam where at least 14 people were hired to “sell flags” for a group that helps animals. These people were seen carrying fake donation bags and mingling with registered volunteers to collect money from people walking by.
[2] The rare street scam came to light during the group’s flag day earlier this month. This initiative, approved by the Social Welfare Department, involved about 800 registered volunteers from the Hong Kong Saving Cat and Dog Association who were deployed across Kowloon from 7am to noon.
[3] Flag days are a traditional way to raise money in Hong Kong. During these days, approved charities ask volunteers to collect donations from people on the streets. The volunteers carry a special donation bag and a sheet of small stickers. These stickers have taken the place of the small paper flags that donors used to pin to their clothes many years ago.
[4] When passers-by drop coins into the bag or make a digital donation, the volunteer places a sticker on their clothing as a token of appreciation and recognition. The events are typically held on Saturdays, or occasionally on Wednesdays during school holidays. In Cantonese, flag days are called mai kei yat – or “flag-selling day”. Genuine volunteers reported on social media that a group of strangers had mixed into the crowd, displaying fake flag sheets and bags that were a different shade of blue.
[5] A police source said that the person who complained saw people acting like staff from an association near Langham Place in Mong Kok. Fourteen individuals who were carrying fake bags were stopped. Investigations found that they had answered a job ad on WhatsApp that offered HK$70 an hour for selling flags, and they thought they were just temporary workers.
[6] They were told to bring the bags back to a contact on Nelson Street, but the organiser never showed up. The fake bags were light blue instead of the dark blue bags that the real volunteers used, and they had a statement saying that the flag day had been approved by the department. The 14 recruits were taken to Mong Kok Police Station for questioning. After that, officers arrested a 22-year-old man for tricking people, a police spokesman said.
Source: South China Morning Post, September 6
