Banks sound alarm over fraudulent iPhone purchases

Two local banks, HSBC and Standard Chartered, have warned their customers to suspend their credit cards if they notice any unauthorized transactions. The banks issued this advice following reports on social media that some customers suspect their credit cards were fraudulently used to purchase iPhones during a pre-order launch.

Both HSBC and Standard Chartered acknowledged receiving media inquiries about the issue. HSBC stated they would initiate an investigation for any affected customers and, if applicable, initiate a chargeback in line with card network regulations. Standard Chartered mirrored this stance, agreeing to assist in submitting a refund request to the card networks if an investigation confirms that the transactions were not authorized by the customers.

While both banks implement 3-D Secure authentication to safeguard online purchases, they emphasized that the decision to add an extra verification step is ultimately up to the individual customer. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority similarly noted that customers generally do not bear liability for unauthorized transactions, provided they have not acted fraudulently or with gross negligence.

The authority stressed the importance of having robust measures in place to ensure the safety of credit card transactions. It further explained that if merchants decide to disable additional verification steps due to operational reasons, they themselves would be held liable for any resulting unauthorized transactions and financial losses.