First published: 30th April 2014
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has warned about e-mails supposedly from the Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited (BOCHK) and Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (SCBHK). The e-mails requests customers to use an embedded hyperlink to connect to a fraudulent webpage and enter their Hong Kong Identity Card number and credit card information. The banks have confirmed that the emails are fake and the Police are investigating. Anyone who has entered their sensitive information on the webpages should contact BOCHK at 2214 3417 or SCBHK at 2886 8868, and any local police station or the Commercial Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force at 2860 5012.
The example fraudulent webpages listed by the HKMA had been dropped on webhosting services, probably without the knowledge of the hosting service provider or the legitimate user. The pages had been removed at the time of writing.
An HKMA spokesperson offered some security advice, "Members of the public are reminded not to access their Internet banking accounts through hyperlinks embedded in e-mails, Internet search engines or suspicious pop-up windows. Instead, they should access their Internet banking accounts by typing the website addresses at the address bar of the browser, or by bookmarking the genuine website and using that for access. In addition, banks are not expected to send e-mails asking their customers to provide their account information (e.g. Internet banking logon passwords) or verify their account information online. If in doubt, they should contact their banks".