Apple iPhone pre-sales linked to 1,700 fraud cases

Police in Hong Kong have recorded over 1,700 instances of credit-card fraud potentially connected to Apple's iPhone pre-sales in September and October, according to a report by the Southern District Council. Police Commissioner Joe Chow revealed that the force received 1,589 reports of unauthorized credit card transactions related to the purchase of various iPhone 18 models, with pre-orders beginning on September 12.

An additional 138 reports were filed in October when the iPhone Duo started accepting orders. Chow noted that Apple did not implement additional security measures for credit card transactions, such as 3D Secure, which requires customers to enter a one-time password or verify their identity through their bank's mobile app. Despite the numerous reports, Chow mentioned that Apple, along with credit card companies and banks, cancelled all problematic purchase records, ensuring that victims did not incur any losses.

Police have reached out to Apple multiple times, urging the company to enhance security measures and verification processes for future product launches. In the first nine months of the year, fraud cases in Hong Kong totaled 34,679, accounting for 51 percent of all crimes and resulting in victims losing HK$6.02 billion, a 6.7 percent increase compared to the same period last year. Phone scams emerged as the most common type of fraud, followed by online shopping deception.