Nearly 29,000 scam-related cases were recorded in the first eight months of this year, the government said on Wednesday, with losses hitting more than HK$5 billion.

The latest figures were revealed by Secretary for Security Chris Tang in a written reply to queries from lawmaker Duncan Chiu.

Citing police data, Tang said the 28,379 reported cases represented a slight drop of 1 percent compared to the same period a year ago, while monetary losses saw a 14.5 percent decline.

Among the cases were 270 telephone scam cases involving individuals studying in Hong Kong's tertiary institutions.

"There were 184 and 86 telephone scam cases involving local and mainland students of tertiary institutions," Tang said in his reply.

"The monetary losses incurred were approximately HK$32 million and HK$75 million respectively."

The worst case saw a mainland university student being conned out of over HK$10 million by swindlers posing as government officials in April.

Tang also pointed to recent phishing messages targeting students.

"It has come to the police's attention that recently many students have become victims of telephone scams involving fake food-delivery platforms sending phishing SMS messages, instructing victims to call a fake 'customer service' and then tricking them into paying 'guarantee money' to cancel orders," he said.

"As regards cyber scams, scam syndicates have been luring students into participating in fake 'click farming' tasks through social media groups including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp."