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

Police in Hong Kong have received over 1,700 reports of suspected credit-card fraud cases linked to Apple's iPhone pre-sales in September and October, according to Police Commissioner Joe Chow. The majority of the cases, 1,589, were reported during September, while 138 were filed in October when the iPhone Duo began accepting orders.

Apple chose not to implement extra security measures for these transactions, such as the 3D Secure protocol. The police have canceled problematic purchase records and have not found any victims to have suffered financial losses. Police have repeatedly contacted Apple and credit card companies to request improved security measures for future product launches.

Fraud remains the most common crime category in Hong Kong, accounting for 51 percent of all crimes, with 34,679 cases reported in the first nine months of the year, resulting in losses totaling HK$6.02 billion, a 6.7 percent increase from the previous year. Phone scams and online shopping deception are the most prevalent types of fraud.