Promotions

In recent years, criminal syndicates have been using various pretexts to lure the public into lending or selling their bank accounts and personal credentials so as to obtain control over the bank accounts for conducting money-laundering activities, such as receiving or transferring crime proceeds. Some of the common tactics used by criminal syndicates are as follows:

Tempt the public to lend or sell bank accounts

Rent or buy bank accounts via online platforms for illegal purposes by emphasizing 'no offence' and 'no risk' involved to mislead the public that there is no legal risk in handing over their bank accounts

Instigate public to assist in receiving funds

Provide rewards to instigate others for receiving funds on their behalf and transfer those funds to third party's accounts afterwards for conducting money-laundering activities

Steal personal credentials for opening bank accounts

Induce the public to provide personal credentials for opening bank accounts or gain control over accounts for money laundering activities

Use of virtual assets to launder crime proceeds

Use 'quick money' as a touting tactic to lure the public to open accounts on unlicensed virtual asset trading platforms for converting criminal proceeds (in form of virtual assets) into fiat money and deposit these money into bank accounts for money laundering purposes

Customers falling into the above traps may hold legal responsibility. An account holder may commit money laundering offences if the account is used for such purposes, upon conviction, the maximum penalty is imprisonment for 14 years and a fine of HK$5 million.

Customers must always stay vigilant and refer to the following practices to better protect their own interests:

If your account is suspected of being misused or any unauthorized transactions is identified, please report the case to the Hong Kong Police Force immediately and contact our Customer Service Hotline at (852) 2818 0282.