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Be Vigilant against “BOC Lifestyle” Phishing SMSs Claiming “Your Subscription Has Expired and a Monthly Fee Is Going to Be Deduced on the Same Day”
2026-01-09

Be Vigilant against “BOC Lifestyle” Phishing SMSs Claiming “Your Subscription Has Expired and a Monthly Fee Is Going to Be Deduced on the Same Day”


Be vigilant against “BOC Lifestyle” phishing SMSs.

Recently, a number of members of the public received fraudulent SMSs purporting to be from Bank of China (Hong Kong) (BOCHK).  The SMSs claimed that one’s subscription to BOC Lifestyle service had expired and a certain amount of monthly fee was going to be deduced on the same day.  In order to cheat recipients out of their deposits, such SMSs allured them to call a designated phone number or disclose banking information.  Some victims lost $1 million.

BOCHK has issued a statement emphasising that it has no connections with such SMSs.  It urges the public to beware of any suspicious SMSs to avoid being scammed.

 

Defrauding Tricks

  • Scammers using fake BOCHK’s IDs (such as “BOC China” and “Life Boc”) sent phishing SMSs, claiming that victims’ subscriptions to “BOC Lifestyle” service had expired and certain amounts of monthly fee were going to be deduced on the same day.  Such SMSs allured victims to call a designated phone number.

  • Scammers impersonating “UnionPay staff” received the calls and claimed that they could assist in cancelling the deduction.

  • Scammers instructed victims to click on a hyperlink to visit a fraudulent website, or enable screen sharing.  Then they asked victims to enter information such as online banking usernames and passwords.

  • Scammers used the information obtained to log on to victims’ bank accounts and transfer their deposits to somewhere else.

 

Pay Attention to Prefix “#”

BOCHK has joined the “SMS Sender Registration Scheme” to use registered SMS sender IDs having the prefix “#”.  Such IDs include:

  • #BOCHK

  • #BOCHK_TXN

  • #BOCHK_CC

When receiving SMSs, members of the public should note whether the sender IDs have the prefix “#” and whether they are the above registered ones.  If in doubt, do not reply or clink on any hyperlinks, and contact BOCHK directly or call the “Anti-Scam Helpline 18222”.

 

Our Advice

  • BOCHK customers who have received any SMSs purporting to be from BOCHK may contact its Customer Service Hotline at (852) 3988 2388 (press 3, # and 2 after language selection);

  • Do not call phone numbers in SMSs or click on unknown hyperlinks;

  • Do not share your screen with strangers;

  • Do not hastily click on hyperlinks, download mobile applications, log on to any suspicious websites or download any attachments;

  • You may enter suspicious phone numbers, URLs or transferees’ account numbers on “Scameter” of CyberDefender or “Scameter+”, the mobile application of “Scameter”, for security check in addition to seeking verification from relevant organisations;

  • If in doubt, please call the “Anti-Scam Helpline 18222” for enquiries.


Compilation of Fraudulent SMSs

https://www.adcc.gov.hk/en-hk/alerts-detail/alerts-1980544509240999938.html