Two female university students from the mainland studying in Macau separately fell victim to a “fake police” scam and have been defrauded out of 18,300 yuan (21,500 patacas) and 12,000 yuan respectively, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei said at a regular press conference on Monday.
According to Lei, the 19-year-old victim was contacted by a man on Saturday who claimed to be a mainland officer. The caller alleged that an ATM card registered in her name had been involved in money laundering and other illegal activities. The victim was then requested to participate in a video call with screen sharing capabilities that allowed the scammer to view detailed information on the computer screen.
During the call, the fraudster demanded that the victim provide her bank and personal information and type in her ATM card password on a website. The victim became suspicious when the scammer requested money and eventually discovered that 18,300 yuan had been withdrawn from her bank account. She reported the incident to the police after realising that she had fallen victim to the scam.
In the second case, the 18-year-old victim was scammed in a similar manner on Saturday by fraudsters posing as a mainland telecommunications officer, a police officer, and a prosecutor. The “telecommunications officer” alleged that the victim’s phone number had been used to send fake messages and then transferred the call to the “police officer,” who stated that the victim was involved in an “international fraud case”. The “prosecutor” then instructed the victim to transfer money to a bank account for an “investigation,” which the victim did. The victim later realised that she had been scammed and reported a loss of 12,000 yuan.
Macau has recently been hit by wave of “fake police” scams.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei looks on during a regular press conference on Monday.
– Photo: William Chan
