The HKMA and the police are instigating efforts to roll out more substantial measures as soon as next week following several large-scale scandals.
It certainly sounds like the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the police have put a gun to the head of most of the city’s retail banks.
An announcement sent Thursday by the Hong Kong Association of Banks indicated that the largest banks serving individual clients will roll out additional an-malware software as early as next week «in line with the advice and guidance» from the HKMA and the police.
Full Block
But these won’t be innocent warnings or vaguely worded, cautionary SMSs and emails that clients can ignore or delete. Banks will potentially block access to banking apps and help clients with remove malware or other suspicious apps.
«The primary goal of these security measures is to protect bank accounts from unauthorized access. These measures will not involve monitoring or surveillance on customers’ mobile devices, nor will they collect or store any personal data,» the announcement further indicates.
Widespread Campaign
The city is on a widespread campaign to take on scammers after several prominent cases in the crypto sector involving famous local personalities and a recent money laundering incident using a mobile app scam that subsequently led to several arrests.
As an example, in early February, the «South China Morning Post» indicated that the Hong Kong police chief had suggested printing anti-fraud slogans on coffee cups and restaurant napkins following a surge in investment scam cases.
