A 24-year-old local woman reported to the Judiciary Police (PJ) last week that she had been cheated out of 3,000 yuan (3,740 patacas) in an online scam early this month, PJ spokesman Lou Chan Fai said at a press conference on Monday.
According to Lou, the woman, who works as a hotel attendant, told the police that she met a male netizen on an app named “SOUL” on her smartphone on May 13, and they became online friends. At the end of last month, the man asked the woman whether she was interested in investing her money and the woman agreed. The man later sent her an app link which was a virtual currency investment platform. She signed up for an account and deposited 1,300 yuan. The account later showed some earnings on top of the capital and the woman withdrew all the money from the account.
Lou said the woman later deposited 3,000 yuan in the account to invest again. When she wanted to withdraw the money from the account last week, the “customer service” told her that she was required to inject the same amount – 3,000 yuan – into her account first in order to be able to withdraw any money from the account. The victim finally grew suspicious, did not deposit the additional 3,000 yuan and instead reported the case to the police, according to Lou.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lou Chan Fai poses during a press conference at the PJ headquarters on Monday.
