Hong Kong is justifiably proud of its reputation as a leading banking and financial center. This explains why the relevant authorities are understandably alarmed over the recent spate of fraud cases involving the misuse of unauthorized credit card information.

Are we now in danger of seeing the credit card predators overtake the banking system protectors in sophistication? Not according to online financial experts, although they also recommend regular reviews to ensure the bad guys do not outsmart existing online financial security installations. But why the recent upsurge in credit card frauds, said to have victimized even accomplished individuals through multimillion-dollar scams? There are two likely explanations. First of all, this can be ascribed, ironically, to the city's good record in avoiding such scams. This led to complacency and failure to remain vigilant against such fraudsters.

The second reason is one of the critical mass of would-be victims making it worthwhile for scammers to target them as a group. A survey has shown that credit card holders aged 18-35 spend an average of 36 percent of their monthly income on purchases made with a card - or HK$8,270 - and take 19 months to repay the debts. The survey by Hong Kong University's Public Opinion Programme also showed that more than half of the interviewees said buying a property is their most important life goal, and 40 percent of them expect to realize their dream within a decade. But most experts dismiss such goals as pipedreams in view of their high expenditure rate.

The question to ask now is what contributed to this seeming detachment from reality among our younger generation. Have they spent so much time in virtual reality at play that they have difficulty distinguishing reality from make-believe created by the same IT technology which distorts reality, and which also allows IT scammers to make unauthorized monetary withdrawal through possible loopholes in the current financial security set-up?

Nonetheless, experts assure the public that the rare current contactless payment credit cards' safety lapse is an isolated case and the whole system remains sound. But they also urged constant vigilance, as there is no such thing as a fail-safe system. Keeping secure will always be a cat-and-mouse game - hopefully with the protectors ahead of the predators.

And if in doubt, err on the side of caution, which explains the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's instructions to seven banks here to recall or replace credit cards it says contain security flaws which allow holders' names to be read by unauthorized sources when they make contactless payments.

(HK Edition 10/15/2015 page8)