Police received 1,503 reports linked to suspected credit-card fraud involving more than HK$30 million in iPhone pre-orders, Commissioner of Police Joe CHOW Yat-ming said on September 29. He said all the related transactions had been cancelled at the force’s request, and that the affected cardholders, banks and Apple had incurred no losses.
The reports followed Apple’s opening of pre-orders for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max on September 12. Members of the public subsequently reported suspected misuse of their cards in transactions on Apple’s online store. Chow said police had maintained close communication with Apple and the banks while investigating the suspected syndicate behind the case.
Police said the suspected scheme exploited a weakness in the online checkout process. Chow said Apple’s 3D Secure protection had been disabled for the transactions, meaning checks such as one-time passwords or mobile-app verification were not required. Fraudsters allegedly used illegally obtained card details to place bulk orders.
Investigators also found that the suspected IP addresses were linked to virtual private networks and that recipient information was false or incomplete, police said. Chow said police believed the offenders intended to let delivery fail, wait for Apple to email about an alternative delivery location and then send a helper to collect the phones at a public place.
Police are continuing to trace the suspected syndicate and have asked Apple to review its transaction procedures before another handset pre-sale expected on October 16.