Lawmaker says Apple liable over Hong Kong iPhone fraud
SCMP · 1 SOURCESabout 1 hour ago2 MIN
Summary
A Hong Kong lawmaker has said Apple should ultimately be responsible for a wave of unauthorised credit card transactions tied to pre-orders of the newly released iPhone 18 Pro series. Police said they had received more than 700 reports involving HK$14.7 million, after social media users over the weekend reported suspicious purchases linked to cards issued by different banks.
Key Points
- Election Committee sector legislator Johnny Ng Kit-chong said on a radio programme on Monday that the case was rare because it involved many victims and a platform run by a major company such as Apple.
- Over the weekend, Hong Kong social media users reported unauthorised credit card transactions for Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro series, which opened for pre-order on Saturday.
- Police said they had received more than 700 reports of unauthorised transactions, with the total amount involved reaching HK$14.7 million.
- Ng said he suspected hackers had stolen and stored card details over time, then used the iPhone launch as an opportunity to place orders at scale.
- He also said Apple might have disabled multi-factor verification to keep its website running smoothly under heavy traffic, creating a loophole that fraudsters exploited.
Why It Matters
The case raises immediate questions for Hong Kong consumers about who should absorb losses when fraudulent online purchases pass through a major global platform, especially when cards from different banks are involved. Ng also said complaints about multiple orders from a single purchase attempt were likely caused by glitches on Apple’s platform, suggesting Apple could face pressure over both security and transaction handling.