Hong Kong’s iPhone scam: how to protect your credit card from online fraud

More than 700 Hongkongers were shocked to discover that their credit cards had been used to place unauthorised orders for Apple’s new iPhone 18 Pro series handsets over the weekend.

Although banks reassured victims they would not be charged as long as the cards were used with due care and the transactions were proven to be unauthorised, the incident still caused widespread concern over credit card security.

The South China Morning Post asked information technology experts for practical tips on how to safeguard credit cards.

1. What happened?

Over the weekend, many social media users in Hong Kong reported that their credit cards had been compromised to place orders for Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro series, which opened for pre-order on Saturday evening.

Police confirmed receiving over 700 reports involving HK$14.7 million (US$1.87 million) in unauthorised transactions.