Hongkongers who were scammed while shopping online during holidays last year each lost an average of HK$7,379 last year, a survey by consumer cybersecurity brand Gen's subsidiary Norton shows.
Around 16 percent of interviewees were targeted by fraudsters during the holidays, and 63 percent of them became victims, while 62 percent lost money. Besides, of all the festivals, Christmas (22 percent), National Day (18 percent) and Mid-Autumn Festival (17 percent) were the top three holidays during which people were most likely to be cheated.
The data shows that nearly half of scams occur on social media platforms, followed by messaging software and third-party websites.
The top two online purchase scams are excess payments and chargeback scams.
Additionally, nearly 6 percent of all digital transactions originating in Hong Kong in the first half year were suspected fraudulent transactions, 10 percent higher than the global average of 5.2 percent, a survey conducted by Transunion found.
Staff reporter
