The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) and The Hong Kong Association of Banks (HKAB) jointly announced today (April 10) a series of new measures to prevent, detect and disrupt financial crime, including fraud and associated mule account networks.

Fraud has been growing in scale and complexity, and the use of technologies has enabled criminals to take advantage of people at speed and scale, amplifying the threat. A total of 44 480 deception cases were reported in 2024, representing an increase of 11.7 per cent compared with 2023. A total of 10 496 persons were arrested for involvement in various types of deception and money laundering offences last year, including about 7 700 persons for selling or allowing their accounts to be used for money laundering, representing an increase of 13.6 per cent compared with 2023.

To keep pace with the evolving nature of fraud as well as international good practices, the HKMA, the HKPF and the banking industry are introducing the following measures:

(1) Expanded use of Scameter data

​To enable banks to identify more suspicious accounts and to alert more potentially at-risk customers so that they can take action to mitigate risks, the HKMA and the HKPF have expanded the use of Scameter data, and expect banks to combine this with network analytics capabilities to identify and share data on additional mule account networks identified in order to increase levels of disruption.

(2) Bank-to-bank information sharing

​To strengthen protection for customers, the HKMA have introduced legislative amendments to enable bank-to-bank information sharing when banks become aware of activity that may indicate possible prohibited conduct (including money laundering and terrorist financing). While 10 banks are already sharing information on the Financial Intelligence Evaluation Sharing Tool (FINEST) platform operated by the HKPF, an updated platform capable of accommodating increased information exchanges is intended to be operational by the end of this year.

(3) Sharing of good anti-fraud practices with banks

To enhance the effectiveness of banks’ systems to prevent, detect and disrupt fraud and scam-related money laundering activities, the HKMA have shared good practices in banks’ anti-fraud and anti-money laundering systems.

(4) Thematic reviews to support banks in building effective anti-fraud controls

​To support banks’ effective implementation of anti-fraud measures, the HKMA will work collaboratively with banks to review system performance through thematic reviews, and establish a regular communication platform with the industry to continuously strengthen the banking sector’s ability to detect mule account networks.

(5) Enhanced publicity and education efforts on “Don’t Lend/Sell Your Account”

The HKMA, the HKPF and the banking industry will strengthen publicity and education efforts to disseminate messages to customers regarding “Don’t Lend/Sell Your Account”, including outreach activities to targeted segments, and enhance industry coordination through the formation of the Anti-fraud Education Taskforce by the HKAB comprising 18 major banks.

The public are reminded not to lend or sell their bank accounts to others as this may carry the risk of prosecution and conviction for criminal offences, including money laundering. In 2024, there was a 2.3-fold increase in the number of persons prosecuted for the offence of money laundering compared with 2023. Given the serious nature of these offences, the HKPF applies to the Court for enhanced sentencing where appropriate. By early April 2025, the sentences of 95 mule account holders had been increased by 13 per cent to 33 per cent, with sentences ranging from 21 to 75 months of imprisonment.

The HKMA and the HKPF will continue to work closely with banks and other stakeholders to strengthen the detection and prevention of financial crime.

Sources: GovHK