HONG KONG — Investment fraud has migrated decisively into the digital channels people use every day, Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) Chairman Dr. Kelvin Wong warned in a keynote address at the IOSCO World Investor Week 2026 event in Hong Kong on October 13. The SFC is Hong Kong's statutory regulator of the city's securities and futures markets.

Speaking at the “Strike the Gong for Financial Literacy” gathering, Wong said the majority of investment fraud cases now originate through social media or instant messaging, while artificial intelligence enables scammers to fabricate convincing faces, voices and backstories within seconds. Likenesses and audio fabricated this way are commonly known as deepfakes.

The financial impact is substantial. Reported cyber-fraud losses in the United States exceeded US$17 billion last year. In Hong Kong, online investment scams account for the largest share of fraud losses, with an average loss of approximately HK$700,000 per case.

Wong emphasized, however, that the figures matter less than what they reveal about human judgment. Education and experience do not necessarily protect investors, he said, and can in some cases breed dangerous overconfidence in mistaken decisions.

For Hong Kong, the chairman argued, the stakes extend beyond monetary losses. Fraud erodes trust, which he described not as a soft value but as the foundation on which every successful market is built. A market dense with rules and rich in information remains vulnerable if investors cannot distinguish genuine opportunities from manufactured illusions.

From Information to Transformation: Three Habits for Investors

Addressing how investor education must evolve, Wong argued that simply providing more content will not produce better decisions in an era of information overload. The purpose of education, he said, is to strengthen how people decide under uncertainty, pressure and temptation — a shift from information to transformation.

He proposed three practical habits:

Practice. Financial literacy must extend beyond the classroom into everyday life, reinforced through hands-on experience and conversations within families and communities.

Pause. Scammers deliberately manufacture urgency because it weakens judgment. Investors should stop and think before transferring money, disclosing personal data or acting on unexpected opportunities.

Question. Investors should ask who the counterparty is, how the investment generates returns, why the opportunity is being offered to them, and whether it is simply too good to be true.

Wong stressed that responsibility cannot rest with investors alone. Regulators must disrupt fraud and strengthen protection frameworks; financial institutions must build integrity and safeguards into their products and processes; and practitioners and technology platforms must ensure that innovation reinforces trust rather than exploits it.

Investor resilience, he concluded, is a shared responsibility — but the final investment decision remains a human one. Technology can imitate a face, reproduce a voice and manufacture urgency, yet it cannot exercise judgment on anyone's behalf.

The remarks were delivered at the tenth World Investor Week — an annual investor-education and protection campaign coordinated by IOSCO, the International Organization of Securities Commissions, the global standards body for securities regulators — hosted in Hong Kong with the participation of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, the Investor and Financial Education Council, the CFA Institute and CFA Society Hong Kong.

Source: Metaverse Post