First published: 18th May 2016
Public Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (PBHK) has issued a warning about unauthorised distribution of PBHK mobile banking Apps. The apps appeared to be still available at these links at the time of writing:
- http://www.appdownloader.net/Android/App/1822599/com.publicbank.mobile/Download
- http://www.appdownloader.net/Android/App/1821512/ttl.android.winvest.pub
- http://www.appdownloader.net/iOS/App/991725973/com.pbhk.mst
- http://www.appdownloader.net/iOS/App/844658336/com.pbhk.app
The bank denies any connection with the website concerned and advises those who have used the apps from the unauthorised links to call their Customer Service Hotline at (852) 81070818 and to report the incident to the Hong Kong Police.
The domain name for the APPDownloader website was registered in 2015, and the site appears to host a large number of Android and iOS apps.
Yui Kee Chief Consultant Allan Dyer commented, "This may be a case of the website owner using the popularity of app downloads to serve advertisements but the risk is clear. Without a verified source, there is no-one to hold responsible if the download is malicious. PBHK could improve the information they give to customers by providing, on their website, a direct link to the authorised distribution point at the Google Play and Apple AppStore."