(Yicai) Sept. 16 -- Hong Kong has recently been hit by a spate of credit card fraud, as more than 1,200 residents have reported unauthorized purchases of Apple’s new iPhone 18 Pro with the total amount involved reaching approximately HKD25 million (USD3.2 million).

Since pre-sales of the iPhone 18 Pro began on Sept. 12, numerous Hong Kong residents have said they have received bank alerts for "card-not-present" transactions on the Apple website, despite not having placed any orders for new phones themselves, according to public reports. All of the fraudulent transactions were used to purchase the latest iPhones.

Some 1,209 people had reported cases to police in the special administrative region as of 5 p.m. on Sept. 14. Notably, a similar incident happened in Hong Kong following the launch of iPhone 17 preorders in September last year.

The affected credit cards were issued by several major banks in Hong Kong. Standard Chartered Hong Kong told Yicai that it has mechanisms in place to closely monitor discussions regarding the unauthorized use of credit cards for online transactions and is actively assisting customers in following up on any suspicious transactions with merchants and card networks. Customers who discover any unauthorized transactions should notify their bank and report the case to the police as soon as possible. They can also immediately block their credit cards through online banking or the SC Mobile app.

HSBC said it was aware of online discussions about customers from different banks whose credit cards were allegedly used to purchase smartphones. The bank advised customers to suspend their cards through the HSBC Hong Kong app or by calling the bank if they encountered any unauthorized transactions. HSBC said it would investigate such cases and, where applicable, initiate a chargeback process in accordance with card-network rules.

Hong Kong police held a media briefing on the evening of Sept. 14. Senior Inspector Ferris Cheung Hau-yee of the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau's technology crime division said the bureau had contacted the banks involved and Cupertino-based Apple to better understand the situation and had immediately launched an investigation into the matter.

Editor: Kim Taylor