On Computer Hacking Incidents in Hong Kong

Dear Member,

In the letter sent to our Chamber by TOBB, the letter of the Ministry of Trade dated 19.07.2022 and numbered 52229414-724.01.01, with reference to the letter received from the Hong Kong Commercial Attaché's Office, states that, since the legislator in Hong Kong provides many facilities to merchants, there may be persons who attempt to exploit these facilities in bad faith, and that, due to the recently increasing computer hacking incidents, there is a need to inform our exporters; it is stated that Hong Kong provides advantages such as striving to apply the rules of a free market economy effectively, having adopted a policy of non-intervention in the private sector, applying a transparent and simple tax policy, not applying indirect taxes except for certain products, and having no discrimination, in law or in practice, between a foreign-capital company and a local company. It is stated that, owing to these and similar advantages, some companies established in Hong Kong and having a legal structure may show as their official address the address of certain companies regarded as 'secretary companies', and therefore a 10-square-metre office may be designated as the official address of many different companies conducting large-value trade via Hong Kong.

The letter goes on to note that, in the incidents recently reported to the Attaché's Office, information has been received that our companies transferred money to a bank account in Hong Kong upon instructions from companies with which they had previously traded and therefore trusted, and later realised that they had been defrauded; that hackers obtained information by hacking the e-mails of certain Hong Kong companies and learning of their correspondence with Turkish companies; and that they then contacted our companies through e-mail addresses very similar to the e-mail address used to communicate with them, attempting to defraud them by persuading them to make payments.

Furthermore, it was stated that, according to information obtained from police officials, this similarity may sometimes be no more than a tiny dot or even a space in a long e-mail address; that very small details which can easily be overlooked in the busy pace of business life may lead to our companies being defrauded; that this has become a problem experienced by many companies doing business with companies in Hong Kong; and that Hong Kong companies are also victims of the matter. Accordingly, it was pointed out that, although the authorities of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region are extremely cooperative on the matter, due to the large number of incidents there is unfortunately no longer any possibility of intervention once the money has been seized by the fraudsters.

In order to avoid encountering such a situation;

1) our companies that will trade with a company located in Hong Kong for the first time should, if possible, make payment by letter of credit,

2) if a commercial transaction is being carried out with companies with which they have previously traded, they should be very careful about even the smallest detail in their correspondence, if possible contact the bank to which payment is made through their own bank and request confirmation that the account holder is the counterparty company, and, if an account number other than the bank account number to which they have previously sent payments is communicated, they should under no circumstances make payment without obtaining more detailed information on the matter,

3) even if they have a trade relationship with companies going back many years, they should not accept the slightest unusual request, i.e. a new request on a matter the company has not previously requested (for example, a company long established in America with no connection whatsoever to Hong Kong requesting that products be purchased from a company in Hong Kong in which it is a partner),

4) they should under no circumstances make any payment other than through traditional payment methods, and should never send money by becoming a member of a website (cryptocurrency fraud is commonly seen in the region).

Our companies that encounter such a situation despite all their efforts are required, urgently,

-to inform the bank through which they made the payment and immediately initiate the process of cancelling the payment, and to refer all information about the process to the judicial authorities in coordination with their bank,

-to report the matter to the Hong Kong Police at 'https://www.erc.police.gov.hk/cmiserc/CCC/PolicePublicPage?language=en', and to forward the investigation number they receive after the report, together with all information and documents relating to the matter, to the Attaché's Office at '[email protected]'.

In this case, our Hong Kong Attaché's Office may apply to the police with the said investigation number and request assistance on the matter. In such a case, police officials contact the bank to which the payment was made, obtain information on the matter and may inform the Attaché's Office. If the bank account in question holds an amount equal to the disputed sum, police officials notify the bank that there is a suspicious situation regarding this money, and the account may be frozen for transactions by the bank. In such a case, it is necessary to contact a lawyer in Hong Kong and file a lawsuit in order to recover the said amount. Since lawyers' fees, in line with the cost of living in Hong Kong, are extremely high compared to their counterparts, our companies may have to pay considerable fees even to recover their money. Where it is found that there is no money in the account, or in other words, where the fraudster has withdrawn the money from the account, there is no longer any possibility of filing a lawsuit to recover the money, and the matter becomes a case that can only be pursued if the fraud suspect is caught.

Accordingly, in order to prevent our exporters from suffering losses, they need to be informed so that they exercise the necessary care and attention on the matter, and in any event be directed to follow the course of action set out above.

Kind regards,

Elazığ Chamber of Commerce and Industry 

 

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Date Added :2022-07-25 01:07:00