May 2021
COVID-19 has certainly been the impetus for the traditional insurance industry to “go digital”. A by-product of this, however, is the need for the public to be alert to the possibility of scams using fraudulent insurance websites.
A particular scam which has been brought to our attention is where the fraudster creates a fake website seeking to impersonate a legitimate licensed insurance broker company. The broker company’s name and business addresses shown on the fake website are identical to those of legitimate licensed insurance broker company. The other contact information (phone numbers and email addresses) are, however, different. Using the fake website to demonstrate legitimacy, the fraudster then seeks to pose as the broker company offering “too-good-to-be-true” products such as credit guarantee insurance on investments seeking to entice victims (particularly from overseas) to hand over premium.
Another scam we have seen is where the fraudster creates an entire fake website for a fictional insurer, offering seemingly legitimate insurance products which can be purchased online through the website.
The IA immediately alerts the public to such scams by issuing press releases when they are brought to our attention. Links to the latest press releases are shown below:
https://www.ia.org.hk/en/infocenter/press_releases/20210305.html
https://ia.org.hk/en/infocenter/press_releases/20200925.html
https://ia.org.hk/en/infocenter/press_releases/20201111.html
Such cases must also be reported to the Hong Kong Police Force for further investigation.
Members of the public should stay alert to such scams and can seek to protect themselves by taking steps to ensure they are accessing the official website of the authorized insurer or licensed insurance broker company in question.
You can do this by checking the contact information (including the official website addresses) on the Register of Authorized Insurers and Register of Licensed Insurance Intermediaries which can be accessed through the IA’s website. The registers can be accessed at the following links:
For Authorized Insurers:
https://www.ia.org.hk/english/supervision/reg_insurers_lloyd/register_of_authorized_insurers.html
For Licensed Insurance Intermediaries:
https://iir.ia.org.hk/#/index
If you are in any doubt, you should also contact the authorized insurer or licensed insurance broker company directly using the telephone number or e-mail address shown on the registers on the IA’s website.