The Consumer Council has recently learnt that members of the public have received phone calls purportedly made by staff of the Council, claiming that a complaint case has not been handled.
The Council wishes to clarify that the aforementioned phone calls were not made by the Council. The Council does not initiate contact with consumers aside from responding to members of the public who have made enquiries or lodged complaints with the Council. In these instances, Council staff would contact enquirers or complainants via the official hotline, and provide case details, such as the complaint case number, for verifying the identities of both parties.
The Council reminds the public to stay vigilant if they receive such suspicious calls and to pay attention to the following:
- Before responding to suspicious calls, voice messages, text messages or other forms of communication purportedly made by staff of the Council, please call the Council’s main hotline (852) 2856 3113 or complaint hotline (852) 2929 2222 to verify their authenticity;
- Do not provide personal information to suspicious third parties;
- If you have doubts or have disclosed your personal information to suspicious third parties, especially if it involves bank account, credit card account or payment platform password details, please contact relevant banks or payment platforms as soon as possible to protect your money from scammers. If you have already been scammed, please contact the police immediately.