Police received 1,727 reports of suspected credit-card misuse linked to two iPhone launches, Police Commissioner Chow Yat-ming said. He attributed 1,589 reports to the iPhone 18 launch and 138 to iPhone Duo.
The iPhone 18 launched in September 2026, followed by iPhone Duo in October. Chow gave the figures at a Southern District Council meeting on November 2.
Chow said police had contacted Apple, credit-card companies and banks, and all problematic transactions had been cancelled. Affected people suffered no financial loss, he said.
He said an investigation found that Apple had disabled 3D Secure, an online payment security measure, during the transactions. This meant checks such as one-time passwords or verification through a mobile app were waived. Chow urged Apple to strengthen verification for future product launches.