Hong Kong: digital bank's customers are the target for fraudsters, says HKMA
Publication:
BIScom Subsection:
Monday, 11 April, 2022 - 16:31
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has issued a warning that customers of WeLab Bank are the target of a phishing scam. WeLab prides itself on being Hong Kong's "only home grown virtual bank." But it's more than a bank so the scam has potentially much wider implications.
WeLab is not associated with WePay. It's backing comes from the likes of Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund, Kazanah Nasional, The International Finance Corporation, Sequoia Capital and CCB International Bank, perhaps China's most regional bank.
It claims more than 50 million users and it has eight business units in Hong Kong, Mainland China and, recently, Indonesia.
WeLab issued its own press release (not visible on its PR page) at https://www.welab.bank/en/news...
In it, the bank shows screenshots of two websites. The addresses have nothing to do with WeBank but the word "WeLab" is prominent. The bank, of course, is clear that it has nothing to do with the websites.
As it is required to do, the bank notified the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the HKMA has issued its own circular both on the website and in its daily end-of-day news e-mail.
This is the latest in a never-ending torrent of such fake websites and phishing scams targeting customers of Hong Kong's banks. For details see https://www.hkma.gov.hk/eng/sm...
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