HKMA warns about fake Bank of China and Wells Fargo Websites

First published: 21^st October 2014

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has issued warnings about two fraudulent webpages; one that mimics the official website of Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited (BOCHK) and one that mimics the official website of Wells Fargo Bank, National Association (Wells Fargo). BOCHK and Wells Fargo have clarified that they have no connection with the fraudulent website and the police are investigating.

Anyone who has submitted personal information to or has conducted financial transactions through the websites should contact BOCHK at 3988 2388 or Wells Farge at 2509 6036 and any local Police Station or the Commercial Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force at 2860 5012.

The fake BOCHK site was located at http://ibc.bcdirecthk.com/Obs_lgn_Secure.php and hosted in the British Virgin Islands. One interesting feature of the page was that the top item in the What's New sidebar was dated July 2014, suggesting the page had been active for some time, but not updated. The fake Wells Fargo site was on a .hk domain, and hosted at a local ISP.

Companies should remember that, even if their website is outdated and unpopular, they remain an attractive target for criminals who are looking for convenient sites to host their fraudulent pages.