Hong Kong police investigate 110 credit card fraud cases in Apple foldable phone pre-orders, losses hit HK$4.6 million
Hong Kong police have received over 110 reports of credit card fraud linked to pre-orders of Apple's latest foldable phone, with losses totalling about HK$4.6 million. The largest single loss was nearly HK$230,000. Police expressed regret that Apple has not activated 3DS authentication, a standard o
Hong Kong police have received more than 110 reports from residents whose credit cards were allegedly used without authorisation to pre-order Apple's latest foldable phone, with total losses amounting to about HK$4.6 million. The largest single loss was nearly HK$230,000, and multiple banks are involved, police said on 17 October.
The police have classified the cases as “obtaining property by deception” and handed them over to the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau for investigation. The force said it is highly concerned about the recurrence of such incidents.
Senior Inspector Lo Kong-kong of the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau said that after the previous iPhone 18 Pro pre-order fraud, police, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the banking sector had taken the matter seriously. Apart from criminal investigations, police have maintained close contact with Apple to explore all feasible preventive measures. Lo cited Apple as saying it had taken some steps, including reviewing and adjusting its fraud risk model and increasing transaction monitoring.
Lo noted that police had repeatedly advised Apple to activate 3DS, an internationally used online credit card transaction verification mechanism that requires cardholders to complete additional authentication, such as entering a one-time password or confirming via a bank's mobile app. However, Apple had still not activated 3DS during the pre-order event the previous evening, failing to effectively block similar fraud. Police expressed high concern and deep regret that Apple had not actively fulfilled its corporate responsibilities, leaving loopholes for criminals to exploit.
Police urged Apple to implement effective preventive measures as soon as possible, including activating 3DS, to prevent similar fraud from recurring. They reminded the public to immediately notify their issuing bank, Apple and the police if they spot suspicious transactions on their credit cards. Lo said police would continue to work closely with Apple to cancel all suspicious transactions as soon as possible to ensure residents do not suffer losses.
Regarding the earlier iPhone 18 Pro pre-order fraud, police said the investigation involving a large volume of transaction data was still ongoing. So far, 1,572 reports have been received, involving about HK$31 million, and no arrests have been made yet.