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when compared to 2003. Nine offenders were convicted in 2004 and sentencedto terms of imprisonment of two years and two months to four years, whileanother eight are awaiting trial.4.11 Proactive intelligence-based operations, stringent enforcementactions and successful prosecution with custodial sentences are believed to havesignificantly reduced such crime. Publicity has been launched to urge thepublic to be vigilant when being introduced to any investment opportunity.Relevant figures are as follows -2003 2004 % ChangeNo. of LLG/S Companies50%↓Complained 10 5No. of Victims Involved 22 10 55%↓Total Reported Losses76%↓(HK$ million) 5.65 1.35No. of Persons Convicted * 42 9 /* Some persons prosecuted were charged in the previous year and convicted inthe following year.Modelling Agency Fraud4.12 Complaints on Modelling Agency remained on the same level in2004. The number of companies being reported and the losses incurredshowed no significant change compared with 2003.4.13 Most reported cases involved the voluntary signing of legalcontracts with victims enticed to make advance payment to secure a modellingjob. Potential victims were then told to attend facial treatment sessions indesignated beauty parlours under the pretence of presenting a better appearance.Following that, they then attended photo shooting sessions for a purportedreward of several hundred dollars. However, this monetary reward was only afraction of what the victims had paid in advance. No further employmentopportunities as promised have been offered. It is often difficult to provecriminality in such circumstances as the cases may be civil in nature.4.14 A multi-agency approach is adopted, i.e., with the ConsumerCouncil, Labour Department and RTHK, particularly in conducting publicitycampaigns to educate the public on the common methods employed byfraudsters in modelling agency fraud. Relevant figures are as follows -110