**********************************************************
Police Commercial Crime Bureau (CCB) arrested 13 men and a woman, aged 19 to 50, who were suspected to be in connection with abuse of Payment by Phone Service (PPS) accounts.
Between March and September 2011, Police received reports from five PPS account holders, alleging their bank savings were being illegally withdrawn via PPS accounts. The total amount of loss concerned exceeded $250,000. The Technology Crime Division of CCB took over the cases.
The Officers, after in-depth investigations, took actions since March and arrested 13 men and a woman, aged 19 to 50, at various locations across the territories. Police also seized some exhibits including computer equipments, mobile phones, and bank cards.
The persons were arrested for 'Access to computer with dishonest or criminal intent', 'Theft' and 'Money Laundering'.
Police remind the public to safeguard their personal information and passwords. If the public require to save their personal particulars to computers or other digital devices, they should be aware of data leakage due to the physical loss of devices, theft, virus infection, hacking or peer-to-peer software.
Police advise the public to observe the following security tips:
- Do not visit questionable or disreputable websites;
- Do not download software from questionable sources to avoid malware and virus infection;
- Use secure passwords and change your passwords regularly;
- Keep your personal information in a safe place;
- Check your firewall;
- Update your security patches;
- Update your computer anti-virus software regularly;
- Scan your computer with anti-virus software regularly; and
- Do not use the same set of log-in credentials for different accounts.
Police remind the public that most laws in the real world are also applicable to the cyber world. Members of public are also advised to use the Internet and other communication technology responsibly and abide by the laws.
Anyone who commits 'Access to computer with dishonest or criminal intent', Section 161 of Chapter 200 "Crime Ordinance", is subject to a maximum penalty of 5-year-imprisonment upon conviction. Anyone who allows others to use his own bank account may violate, 'Dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of indictable offence', Section 25 of Chapter 455 'Organized and Serious Crime Ordinance', and liable to a maximum sentence of 14-year-imprisonment and a 5-million-dollar fine.
Police Report No. 14
Issued by PPRB
Ends/Friday, September 16, 2011
Issued at HKT 20:21
NNNN
