Hong Kong Palace Museum urges vigilance over fake online posts seeking artefacts

The Hong Kong Palace Museum has said it did not authorise a third party to collect artefacts on its behalf and has urged people to remain vigilant after a social media post claimed “big money” was available for items.

“The museum has noticed social media posts claiming to offer high prices to private collections on behalf of Hong Kong museums, allegedly using photos of the Hong Kong Palace Museum’s buildings and artefacts,” it said in a statement on Thursday evening.

“The museum emphasises that it has no connection with these posts and will report the matter to police.

“The museum hereby firmly reiterates that it has not authorised any third party to collect artefacts. Any citizens who have provided information to individuals or unknown sources claiming to collect artefacts on behalf of the museum should contact police.”

The post is no longer available on social media platforms such as Xiaohongshu, an Instagram-like site popular in mainland China, but a screenshot of it is contained in a media report, an online search shows.

A user, whose account name translates as “vast collection” in English, wrote: “Calling all collectors – the chance to make big money is here” and “appointed by a Hong Kong museum to enrich their collection”, with offers of large sums of cash.