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Anti-Scam Consumer Protection Charter 2.0

Riding on earlier effort in combatting credit card scams and other digital frauds, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Hong Kong Association of Banks jointly launch the Anti-Scam Consumer Protection Charter 2.0 (the Charter 2.0). Under the Charter 2.0, financial institutions and merchant institutions (collectively referred to as “Participating Institutions”) cooperate to help the public safeguard their bank, credit card, investment, insurance and mandatory provident fund (MPF) account and other key personal information, and combat against frauds and scams. Participating Institutions span across different sectors, covering banking, insurance, MPF and securities and futures industries, food and beverage, logistics, transport, travel, retail, etc. The Charter 2.0 is fully supported by Consumer Council, Hong Kong Police Force, Insurance Authority, Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority, and Securities and Futures Commission. (in alphabetical order).

The Charter 2.0 features four key principles to assist the public to guard against credit card scams and other digital frauds, in particular phishing messages purportedly to be sent by financial institutions and merchants, and to enhance the ability of the public to avoid falling prey to these scams.


Charter 2.0 Principles
1.

Participating Institutions will not send any instant electronic messages (e.g. SMS, WhatsApp, WeChat, etc) to customers with embedded hyperlinks to acquire bank, credit card, investment, insurance and / or mandatory provident fund (MPF) account and / or other key personal information online, unless arising from requests by the customers.
2.

Participating Institutions will work together in raising public awareness of credit card scams and other digital frauds. This will include a key message of “Beware of scams! Do not provide bank, credit card, investment, insurance and / or mandatory provident fund (MPF) account and / or other key personal information via hyperlinks embedded in suspicious messages purported to be coming from our institution!” to their customers and the public, through their suitable channels (such as corporate websites, mobile apps, etc), publicity and promotional messages to facilitate raising public awareness of such scams and frauds.
3.

Participating Institutions will provide contact information on their suitable channels (such as corporate websites, mobile apps, etc), for customers to make enquiries (e.g. on verifying the identities of the message senders or authenticity of the messages).
4.

Participating Institutions will provide relevant training to their frontline staff (including sales and customer service staff) on the Charter 2.0 so that they will be able to handle customer enquiries and convey anti-scam education messages as appropriate.

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