To combat credit card scams, digital fraud and phishing messages purportedly sent by financial institutions and merchants, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (“HKMA”) in collaboration with the Hong Kong Association of Banks introduced the Anti-Scam Consumer Protection Charter 2.0 (“Charter 2.0”) on 10 April 2024.
More than 230 financial institutions and merchants participate in the Charter 2.0 and are expected to adhere to the following four key principles:
- Commit not to send any instant electronic messages (e.g. SMS, WhatsApp, WeChat, etc) to customers with embedded hyperlinks to acquire bank, credit card, investment, insurance and MPF accounts or other key personal information online, unless arising from requests by the customers
- Work together in raising public awareness of credit card scams and other digital fraud. This will include sending through suitable channels (such as corporate websites, mobile apps, etc), publicity and promotional material, a key message of “Beware of scams! Do not provide bank, credit card, investment, insurance and MPF account or other key personal information via hyperlinks embedded in suspicious messages purported to be coming from our institution!” to their customers and the public to facilitate awareness of such scams and fraud
- Provide contact information on suitable channels (such as corporate websites, mobile apps, etc) to facilitate customers’ ability to make enquiries (e.g. on verifying the identities of the message senders or authenticity of the messages)
- Provide relevant training to their frontline staff (including sales and customer service staff) on Charter 2.0 so that they will be able to handle customer enquiries and convey anti-scam education messages as appropriate.
For the press release, please see here. To access a copy of the Charter 2.0, please see here.
