A mainland Chinese bank in Hong Kong is investigating unauthorised transactions on the Faster Payment System (FPS) involving one of its clients, the Post has learned, with experts saying breaches on the widely used platform are uncommon and may involve hacking.
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A client of the China Construction Bank (Asia) in Hong Kong told the Post that she had never used FPS but lost HK$20,000 (US$2,560) in two unauthorised transactions via the platform to an account with Ant Bank under a mainland name on April 1.
The victim, a businesswoman surnamed Chen, said three other transactions totalling HK$30,000 made consecutively with the first two transfers were blocked by the bank, despite the lender telling her initially that it did not find any problems with its security systems.
Chen said she was later asked by the lender to file a report to police, who in turn told her that FPS breaches were uncommon and that her bank had the responsibility to liaise with Ant Bank to reclaim the loss.
Chen said that during the process of seeking recourse, she felt furious and helpless as she received little explanation as to how the bank would look into her losses while police had not yet updated her about their investigation.
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“It was this feeling of being very helpless … We’re not protected by the bank; we’re not protected by police,” Chen said.