News

Lawmakers urge Hong Kong govt. to increase efforts to combat ATM crime

March 24, 2004

HONG KONG - Lawmakers on March 24 passed a member's motion urging the government to devote more time and effort to combating ATM and credit card crime.

Lau Kong-wah of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong, who raised the motion, said that police had not prosecuted, or even arrested, any suspects in connection with ATM crimes.

He said the situation could become more serious once mainland travelers are allowed to use credit cards to make payments in Hong Kong, according to a report in The Standard.

"The government and the police should maintain close links with mainland security authorities to combat cross-border credit card syndicates,' Lau said.

According to police statistics, there were 49 ATM card fraud cases in 2003, involving losses amounting to HK$1.4 million (U.S. $179,550). Police also handled 499 cases related to counterfeit credit cards in 2003 and confiscated 1,599 forged cards.

Visa and MasterCard in 2006 plan to introduce cards with a micro computer chip, which should reduce card fraud. Lau said the government should co-operate with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and banks to introduce the chip technology to Hong Kong.

Banking sector lawmaker and Bank of East Asia chairman David Li said lenders had already improved security measures at ATMs. He also insisted that cardholders should bear some responsibility for protecting their PINs.

"If they do not divulge their PIN to others, I believe most frauds could be avoided,' he said in the Standardreport.

Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee said the numbers of credit and ATM card crimes in Hong Kong were insignificant considering the 12 million credit cards and 19 million ATM cards issued in the territory.

But he stressed that the police would step up their intelligence work and would further improve communication with the banking sector, Interpol and the police forces of other countries.

Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Frederick Ma said the HKMA had issued a set of guidelines banks last October, including the installation of covers above the key pads of ATMs.

"These guidelines have proved to be effective because the HKMA has not received any new reports since mid-November. This kind of crime seems to be under control,' he said.

Ma said local banks would be urged to continue to review their security and crime prevention measures in order to prevent a recurrence of such crimes.