Tailor-made counterfeit student cards for universities in Hong Kong, including the city’s oldest institution, are being sold on an online platform, the Post has found, with legal experts warning that both sellers and buyers may be breaking the law.
A check by the Post on Monday found at least three shops on a major cross-border e-commerce platform, Pinduoduo, selling counterfeit student cards for around 40 to 70 yuan (US$5.60 to US$9.80) each.
Some of the sellers told the Post that the cards were usually for photo-taking purposes, with one claiming that the fake documents would not bear any legal risks.
However, when the Post checked the platform again on Tuesday, all the products were marked as “sold out”.
Lawyer Albert Luk Wai-hung said that even if a shop carried a disclaimer on the post that sold those counterfeit cards, both sellers and buyers could still be committing forgery.
“If buyers use the counterfeit student cards to gain benefits, both they and the sellers are violating the law,” he said.
Anyone convicted of forgery faces a maximum penalty of 14 years’ imprisonment.
Lawmaker and lawyer Holden Chow Ho-ding echoed Luk, saying that both sellers and buyers could risk breaking the law.
He said the incident was serious enough to warrant government attention.
“If student cards can be faked, then other official documents could be as well,” he said.
He urged police to take action against any Hong Kong-based sellers and to proactively contact mainland Chinese authorities to combat these illegal activities committed across the border.
The Post has reached out to Pinduoduo for comment.
The universities said they had not received any inquiries about fake student identity cards.
The University of Hong Kong said it would continue to monitor the situation and seek legal advice if necessary. The University of Science and Technology said its student cards had an anti-counterfeit design and a built-in chip.
“We are actively studying a new project to collaborate with large enterprises on developing an ID certification system. The goal is to help businesses that provide student benefits verify student IDs more accurately,” a spokesman said.
The Education University of Hong Kong, City University, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Lingnan University said their student cards were encrypted. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
