Cyberthieves 'used malware' to steal half a million dollars from Hong Kong woman's bank account

A Hong Kong woman, 35, has become the latest victim of cybercrime after her computer was “hacked” and 433,000 yuan (HK$546,000) was stolen from her bank account.

The woman, who lives in Shung Ching San Tsuen village on Tai Shu Ha Road West in Yuen Long, “received a telephone call from a man who claimed that her bank account was suspected to have been used for illegal purposes”, a police spokesman said.

“She logged onto her online banking account … and followed his instructions to input information,” the spokesman said.

To her horror, she later discovered that thousands of dollars had been drained from her bank account. She called police at about 11.15pm last night.

A veteran police officer said the woman’s computer might have been infected by malicious programmes before she received the call.

The woman may have been directed to fake web pages so that she would unwittingly send personal information to the culprits.

“When she logged on her e-banking account, fraudsters made use of computer technology to display bogus web page interfaces on her computer and steal her information when she input her login name and passwords,” he said.