2,000 customers of Hong Kong Airlines, 2 appliance shops, get scam calls after data breach
Almost 2,000 customers of Hong Kong Airlines and two electronic appliance retailers received fraudulent calls after their personal information was leaked by the companies, the city’s privacy watchdog has found. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD) said on Monday that it had received more than 40 inquiries and complaints linked to the suspected data leaks involving Hong…
Nearly 2,000 customers of Hong Kong Airlines and two electronic appliance retailers, Yoho and Broadway, were targeted by fraudsters after their personal data was exposed in a recent breach, according to Hong Kong’s privacy watchdog. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD) announced that it had received over 40 complaints related to the suspected data leaks involving the three companies.
The PCPD became aware of the data breach on October 2, following an initial notification from Hong Kong Airlines. Preliminary investigations revealed that 815 passengers who travelled between September 29 and October 22 received calls from fraudsters, posing as airline representatives. The scammers used compromised passenger data, including names, phone numbers, flight dates, flight numbers, and travel routes, to solicit sensitive information like banking details or demand refunds via fraudulent WhatsApp links.
Yoho and Broadway separately reported data breaches to the watchdog, with Yoho informing the PCPD on October 3. Initial inquiries indicated that 790 customers who placed orders between September 29 and October 12 with Yoho received similar fraudulent calls. Compromised information could include names, contact details, delivery addresses, order IDs, and purchase records.
Broadway also reported the incident on October 4, stating that customers received scam calls after their data was exposed. The retailer highlighted that callers referenced customers' names, phone numbers, purchased items, and transaction amounts to solicit sensitive information.
In response to the incidents, the PCPD urged customers to verify the identity of callers through official channels and to exercise caution against fraud alerts issued by businesses. The watchdog reminded the public never to disclose sensitive information, such as online banking account numbers and passwords, to anyone.
A reporter for the South China Morning Post, Fiona Chow, also fell victim to a fraudulent call on October 7. Chow received a call from someone claiming her parcel had been lost in transit and offering to compensate her via a WhatsApp number. Acting on the caller's instructions, Chow discovered that several customers who had placed orders with Yoho between September 29 and October 6 had also received scam calls.
Broadway later issued a warning to its customers, stating that fraudsters had impersonated customer service agents from the company and delivery firms like SF Express, using pretexts such as damaged parcel compensation to obtain banking details and trick victims into clicking malicious links.
Written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
