The Hong Kong government has warned bank customers against scams to obtain their personal and financial details to gain control over their bank accounts.Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) rules state that “whenever authorized institutions (AIs) become aware of fraudulent websites, phishing e-mails or similar scams which are designed to trick their customers into revealing sensitive customer information, they should notify promptly their customers through issuing press release and report the matters to the HKMA”.
HKMA recently reported that 28 such notifications have been issued so far this year, or an average of three scams every month. It is not known how many people have fallen prey to these scams.
The latest of such scams, which targeted customers of Fubon Bank (Hong Kong) Limited, illustrates how easily one could fall prey into these frauds. A junk email has circulated recently, asking customers to log in to the bank’s alleged website, www.fubonbank.com, to update their data. The fake website features the proper logos and forms copied from the original website, http://www. fubonbank.com.hk, in which customers log in.
Those who believed the email could have easily divulged their account details, including passwords, which could have allowed the fraudsters to drain their deposits.
An attempt by The SUN to open the fraudulent website triggered a virus-crash warning from the internet provider.
The Fubon case is classified as Fraudulent Website, the most common in the HKMA list of scams.
The list provided by HKMA, also classified other the attacks into Suspicious Internet Banking Logic Screen, Suspicious Apps and Phishing Email.
The banks that have issued notifications included The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, Bank of China (Hong Kong), Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), Public Bank (Hong Kong), Bank of East Asia, Shanghai Commercial Bank, China Citic Bank International, Chong Hing Bank, Wing Lung Bank, OCBC Wing Hang Bank, Dah Sing Bank, Corporate Finance (D.T.C.) Limited, and BNP Paribas.
