An unidentified Hong Kong electronics retailer has been fined after being found guilty of ‘bait advertising’.

At Fanling Magistrates’ Courts Tuesday, the retailer was fined $10,000 for contravening the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (TDO).

The electronics retailer published an advertisement in a newspaper in October 2015, offering to supply a tablet model at an attractive price. A member of the public visited the shop on the same day and found the advertisement on show there. But when the customer enquired about the advertised product, a salesperson said that the price and functions of the tablet were wrongly printed in the advertisement and hence could not be supplied at the attractive price.

After investigation by Hong Kong Customs, the trader was prosecuted for having engaged in bait advertising.

The Customs department used the conviction as an opportunity to remind retailers to comply with the requirements of the TDO.

“Under the TDO, a trader who engages in unfair trade practices in the course of trade or business commits a criminal offence,” a spokesman said.

The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for five years.