Combat Financial Crimes

The latest modus operandi of financial crimes and anti-scam alerts

Say No To Money Laundering. Neither Sell nor Lend Your Bank Account

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  • Criminal syndicates would offer various advantages to lure you into disclosing personal credentials, or selling or lending your bank accounts. Upon controlling your bank accounts, they may use these "stooge accounts" to receive/ launder fraudulent payments or other crime proceeds
  • If you identify any suspicious activities, please contact bank or the police immediately
  • Selling or lending your bank accounts to others for unlawful purposes may expose yourselves to the risk of committing money laundering offence of which the maximum penalty is a fine of HK$5 million and imprisonment for 14 years


Beware of Loan Scammers Impersonating Local Bank Staff

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  • Recently, general public have received suspicious instant messages or phone calls by fraudsters impersonating local bank staff
  • They claimed to offer loans at low interest rates and lured the victims into providing their personal credentials. Subsequently, the fraudsters arranged to meet victims at fake law firms or other public places and lured them to pay guarantee fees by cash or deposit a sum of money into a designated bank account for the loan applications, or asked them to apply for loans at other finance companies
  • The staff could no longer be reached afterwards
  • If you receive calls or instant messages purportedly from banks, contact corresponding banks for verification proactively
  • Bank staff would never refer their clients to law firms to complete loan applications, or to other finance companies to apply for loans or sign any documents. Nor would they ask their clients to complete loan applications or sign contracts at places other than bank branches
  • Do not disclose to strangers your personal information
  • If in doubt, please contact bank and the police immediately


The one-stop scam and pitfall search engine, Scameter, is now launched by Hong Kong Police Force

The one-stop scam and pitfall search engine
  • The one-stop scam and pitfall search engine, Scameter, is now launched by Hong Kong Police Force to help the public identify frauds and online pitfalls. When the public encounters suspicious calls, online sellers, friend requests, job advertisements, investment websites, and the like, they can enter the platform account name or number, payment account, phone number, email address, URL, etc. to assess the risk of fraud and cyber security. You can access the Scameter via the following link: https://cyberdefender.hk/


Beware of Unauthorized remote account opening and loan applications

Beware of Unauthorized remote account opening and loan applications
  • Recently, the Bank noticed a number of loan fraud cases where fraudsters opened bank accounts remotely by luring victims into conducting selfies and liveness tests, followed by unauthorised loan applications under the victims' name. The pretexts fraudsters deployed to deceive the victims are wide-ranging, including claiming to play a "face swapper / selfie game", or to assist the victims to apply for a job, insurance policy, or travel membership, all of which involve collecting identity and other personal information of the victims. The fraudsters would then bind the victims' accounts with the fraudsters' device in order to apply for credit and subsequently transfer the loan proceeds to third-party accounts. Victims may not have been aware of the relevant account opening and/or loan drawdown until being approached for debt collection.

    Security Tips

  • You should open accounts and set up passwords with your own mobile phones or electronic devices. Do not submit application with mobile phones or electronic devices provided by third parties;
  • When using mobile applications, you should take precautions to avoid facial features and personal information leakage;
  • Read SMS messages of the one-time verification code issued by the bank carefully;
  • Do not disclose any SMS verification codes to strangers;
  • If you spot any suspicious activities in your accounts, please contact our bank immediately;
  • If you suspect that you have fallen prey to a scam, please report the case to the police immediately.


Beware of phishing attack

Beware of phishing attack
  • Phishing attack is a prevalent cybercrime. Among the phishing cases, hackers impersonate as banks, and send phishing text messages to the victims, claiming irregularities detected or updates on the payment instructions, and request users to process or confirm.
  • They lured the victims into visiting a fraudulent website and providing their mobile numbers and one-time-password.
  • The hackers then hijack the accounts by using another mobile and transfer funds out. As the scammers hide the senders’ mobile numbers and pretend to send messages under bank names, mobile systems will treat those messages as no difference with those under the same bank names. Users are confused by the mixed genuine and fake messages.
  • There are also some hackers who gather personal information via various channels (e.g. system loophole, dark web), then impersonate bank staff to make calls and request the users to provide “PIN” and “one-time-password” to update their e-payment accounts, otherwise their accounts will be frozen. As scammers are able to state the personal information of the call recipients, they are easily trusted by the victims. After getting the above information, the scammers will then hijack the accounts and drain their deposits.

    Security Tips

  • Do not connect to any suspicious websites via hyperlinks embedded in emails or SMS messages
  • Do not log into websites that are not verified
  • Pay extra attention if the websites ask for personal or credit card details
  • If you identify any suspicious activities in your accounts, please contact our bank immediately
  • If you suspect that you have fallen prey to a scam, save relevant emails or messages and report the case to the police
  • You can access more details via the following link:https://cyberdefender.hk/en-us/phishing_attack/


Stay Alert in Investment of A-Shares

Stay Alert in Investment of A-Shares
  • Recently, scammers have been impersonating investment specialists and inviting members of the public to join their investment classroom groups through SMS messages and instant messaging applications. They offer inside information, low risk and high return as bait. The public is lured into clicking on unknown links to download a fraudulent “A-shares” mobile application or enter a fraudulent “A-shares” website to set up an account. Subsequently, the scammers ask them to transfer their principal to unidentified personal bank accounts.
  • The scammers deliver a small return or send fake interest distribution reports through the investment application/ website for initial transactions, tricking the victims into believing them. After the victims invested more, the scammers flee with the money.

    Security Tips

  • Do not connect to any suspicious websites or download any attachments by clicking on hyperlinks embedded in SMS messages, emails or websites
  • You are advised to invest in Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect through registered investment institutions
  • You may check out the public register of licensed persons and registered institutions on the website of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)
  • You may enter the suspicious calling number, website or transferee’s account number on “Scameter” or “Scameter+”, the mobile application of “Scameter” for security checks
  • If you identify any suspicious activities in your accounts, please contact our bank immediately
  • If in doubt, please call the “Anti-Scam Helpline 18222” for enquiries




Protect your Personal Digital Keys; Beware of Fraudulent Links!
Don't be tempted by quick money! Don't lend your account to anyone for money laundering!

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Publicity Materials
Don't be tempted by quick money. Don't sell your account

Don't be tempted by quick money. Don't sell your account

Beware of money laundering traps!

Beware of money laundering traps!

Don't be tempted by quick money. Don't lend your account to anyone to launder money

Don't be tempted by quick money. Don't lend your account to anyone to launder money

Beware of Job Scams!

Beware of Job Scams!

Black Money

Black Money "Whitening" Mask

One-Stop Scam & Pitfall Search Engine

One-Stop Scam & Pitfall Search Engine

Protect your Personal Digital Keys; Beware of Fraudulent Links!

Protect your Personal Digital Keys; Beware of Fraudulent Links!

Stay Alert in Investment of A-Shares

Stay Alert in Investment of A-Shares

Beware of Telephone Deception

Beware of Telephone Deception