Home Affairs Department urges public to be aware of fraudulent Facebook page “Bloomy The Tree”
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A spokesman for the Home Affairs Department (HAD) today (July 19) alerted members of the public to a fraudulent Facebook page purported to be the “社企友建樹 Bloomy The Tree” Facebook page. Bloomy The Tree is the social enterprise mascot of the HAD.
The HAD found that the fraudulent Facebook page purported to be the “社企友建樹 Bloomy The Tree” Facebook page left comments for followers of the genuine Facebook page “社企友建樹 Bloomy The Tree”. The comments provided a hyperlink to a fake “社企友建樹 Bloomy The Tree” website, which seeks to obtain credit card information of members of the public.
After discovering the fraudulent Facebook page, the HAD immediately removed comments left on its Facebook page of “社企友建樹 Bloomy The Tree”, and prevented the leaving of any further comments. The HAD has also reported the case to the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer and the Police. Facebook has also blocked and disabled the relevant fraudulent accounts after receiving the HAD’s notification.
The spokesman clarified that the department has no connection with the fraudulent website, and will never ask for credit card information from members of the public through the Facebook page and website of “社企友建樹 Bloomy The Tree”. The genuine hyperlink of the Facebook page of “社企友建樹 Bloomy The Tree” is www.facebook.com/sehk.gov.hk.
The spokesman alerted members of the public to remain vigilant and not to visit suspicious websites or disclose any personal information. Anyone who has provided personal information of their credit card to the website concerned should report the case to the Police as soon as possible.
The HAD condemns all form of cybercrime and will fully co-operate with investigations by law enforcement agencies.