HKMA and Police remind public to remain vigilant against phishing messages

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Police today (16 April) remind members of the public to remain vigilant against phishing SMS messages purporting to be from Anti-Deception Coordination Centre (ADCC) and the HKMA.

These messages claim to assist recipients in recovering their frozen assets or payments made to scammers, instructing them to contact bogus law firms, and provide their bank account information or transfer money to specific bank accounts.

The HKMA and the Police reiterate that officers will not contact the members of the public on personal financial matters, nor will they authorise any law firm to assist in recovering fraud losses.

The HKMA and the Police urge the public not to trust any messages, social media pages or advertisements claiming to assist in recovering fraud losses. Before seeking assistance from professionals, it is advised to verify their background and professional qualifications. Information on solicitors can be found on the website of The Law Society of Hong Kong (https://www.hklawsoc.org.hk/).

The “Registered SMS Sender ID” of the ADCC is “#ADCC18222”. The official SMS messages do not contain any hyperlinks and only provide the “Anti-Scam Helpline 18222”. For enquiries, members of the public may call the 24-hour hotline “Anti-Scam Helpline 18222”.