A woman and a man reported to the Judiciary Police separately last week that they had recently been cheated out of US$18,000 (144,000 patacas) and HK$6,000 in two separate online scams, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Chan Nam said at a regular press conference on Monday.
According to Ho, a local woman reported to the Judiciary Police on Friday that she met a male netizen on Facebook in late January. They communicated via WeChat and later became “online lovers”. The man claimed that he was an American working as a maritime engineer. The man later told her that he was unable to transfer money online due to poor reception as he was working on an ocean-going vessel. He gave his account number and passwords to the victim and asked her to help him transfer money. After the victim carried out several transfers for her “lover” he told her that his account was frozen because of frequent log-ins from Macau. The victim’s “lover” told her that he needed to transfer money urgently and asked her to transfer US$18,000 for him and that he would return the money to her afterwards. The victim transferred the money between March 30 and April 19 to a designated account. Afterwards, when her “lover” asked her to transfer money again she finally realised that she had been defrauded and reported the case to the police.
Meanwhile, a man reported to the Judiciary Police on Friday that he saw a message on Facebook on May 3 that one could apply for personal loans.
He got in touch with the lender who agreed to grant a loan of HK$50,000 to the victim under the terms that he was required to pay a “lawyer’s fee” of HK$6,000, and a four percent monthly interest on the principal and repayment within one year. The victim then transferred HK$3,000 twice on Monday and Tuesday to a designated account and made an appointment to meet the lender in Largo do Senado on Friday to sign the loan agreement.
However, as the lender did not show up on that day the man realised that he had been scammed and reported the case to the police.
