Hong Kong police said 130 people had reported suspected unauthorised use of their credit cards to buy smartphones online by 9am on October 19, involving about HK$5 million.
The reports followed Apple opening online pre-orders for the iPhone Duo on October 16. People posting on social media said some successful orders led to repeated charges, while others received payment alerts after their orders failed or they had not ordered a phone.
HK01 reported one account in which a HK$34,998 transaction was charged five times, bringing the reported total to HK$174,990. Another user said the same amount had been charged twice.
Police provisionally classified the cases as obtaining property by deception and assigned the investigation to the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau. They were also investigating whether two cases involved the same criminal group and put the largest single case at about HK$230,000, equivalent to the price of 12 iPhone Duo phones.
HK01 reported that the company had not enabled 3DS, with customer experience given as the reason. Police wanted effective preventive measures, including 3DS.
An HSBC spokesperson said the bank would identify and cancel duplicate transactions, and that customers would not be liable for those charges. Police advised people who spot suspicious card transactions to contact their card issuer, Apple and police promptly.