Careless citizens reminded that losses due to wallet thefts dwarf online fraud cases
As concerns over theft in cyberspace mount, Hong Kong's crime prevention chiefs have called on people to get back to basics and watch their wallets.
Thousands of wallets and purses are stolen, snatched, or simply lost every year. Direct monetary losses from thieves who use stolen credit cards to purchase items run into tens of millions of dollars each year in the city, compared with $1.4 million from just 26 cyber-fraud cases since internet use became widespread.
The call comes less than two weeks after it was revealed that hackers stole confidential information on 20,000 Hong Kong credit cards from a US database.
Details have yet to emerge, but so far only a handful of local credit cards put at risk by the US theft have been exploited by criminals, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority says.
The banking watchdog remains unconcerned that cyber-fraud may spread in Hong Kong, despite an increasing number of websites disguised as local banks.