Surging cases of suspected credit card fraud used to purchase phones

Scores of residents suspected their credit cards were fraudulently used to purchase mobile phones, with several banks stating they are willing to offer refunds.

This as the Hong Kong Monetary Authority noted merchants who fail to implement additional authentication measures out of operational concerns must bear responsibility for financial losses resulting from unauthorised transactions.

Starting on Saturday, a growing number of social media posts reflected residents' frustrations with not being able to purchase the new iPhone.

They would subsequently receive notifications from their banks indicating that they have made "cardless" payments, raising suspicions of credit card fraud.

Some residents noted the same situation happened to them even though they did not try to purchase any new mobile phones.

Mr. R, who lost 40,000 dollars in total in a suspected credit card fraud case, said his HSBC credit card was suddenly charged 20,000 dollars for a purchase at the Apple store.

He immediately tried to suspend the usage of the card via the HSBC mobile app, but by that point the card was already used for a second time.

Mr. R then reported the case to the police the next day, only to find out that similar incidents have been happening across the city.

HSBC, Hang Seng Bank, Bank of China (Hong Kong) and Standard Chartered all reminded residents to immediately freeze their credit cards through their bank mobile apps or notify bank staff if they suspect unauthorised transactions.

The banks will then carry out investigations and offer refunds according to existing mechanisms pertaining to their credit cards.

This as representatives from the tech sector believe merchants who fail to implement additional authentication measures will be taken advantage of by scammers.

Hong Kong Information Technology Federation Honorary President Francis Fong said some businesses deliberately avoid setting up additional authentication systems in hopes of speeding up transactions, which only increases the risk of criminals misusing victims' credit card information.

Addressing the issue, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said merchants who fail to implement the extra authentication measures must bear the responsibility for financial losses resulting from unauthorised transactions.