Opinion | Why should scam victims have to pay for someone else’s crime?
- Hong Kong should set up a platform to offer scam victims solid support and reduce fraudulent transactions at source
- Right now, many might find the process of fund recovery too daunting, while banks may not be entirely helpful
Scams are rampant and the tricks used are constantly evolving. I found that out the hard way early last month, when my Citibank Rewards credit card had HK$11,984.90 deducted after I clicked into a mobile phone phishing message that looked just like an official text, and authorised a purchase of an item for HK$4.70.
I only later learned that scammers can set two prices for a purchase. Thus, buyers may see one price on a merchant’s website, but discover they have been charged a far higher amount after they authorise the purchase. In my case, no alerts were sent to warn of the price discrepancy.
And once the transaction has gone through, the process of disputing it can be arduous and lengthy, with only a slim chance the charge will be waived.
Currently, scam victims’ only recourse is to make reports to the bank and the police. However, Legislative Council member Johnny Ng Kit-chong is advocating for a joint platform that requires the cooperation of the financial, information technology and telecommunications sectors to offer scam victims solid support and reduce fraudulent transactions at source.
For many scam victims, including myself, frustration often builds during the long wait to get through to a bank’s customer service hotline, after the scam is discovered. It doesn’t help that frontline workers sometimes give conflicting pointers, such that victims’ quest to dispute the problematic transaction might fail.