Two online fraud cases were reported separately to the Judiciary Police this month in which two local women were defrauded out of 129,292 yuan (160,000 patacas) and 33,300 yuan (41,000 patacas) respectively, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chong Kam Leong said at a press conference on Wednesday.
According to Chong, a jobless woman in her forties reported to the police on Monday that she met a man named David who claimed to be an American engineer on a social media app this month. They fell in love and soon became online lovers. David told the woman on June 14 that he would buy a gift worth US$800,000 (6.4 million patacas) and send it to her. Soon after, the woman received a call from a person who claimed to be a courier company staff member, who told her that she had to pay 10,570 yuan in order to receive the gift.
After the victim remitted the money last Wednesday according to the instruction, the purported courier staff member called again, saying that she needed to pay another 118,722 yuan to receive the gift. The victim then remitted the money last Thursday. However, the victim never received the gift and it finally dawned on her that she had been defrauded. She reported the case to the police on Monday, saying that she had lost a total of 129,292 yuan in the scam.
Meanwhile, a 65-year-old housewife reported to the police earlier this month that she met a man on an online social media app in May, and they became friends. The man claimed to be engaged in oil drilling at sea. On June 9, the man claimed that he would send her US$5 million (nearly 40 million patacas) in cash and a batch of documents, asking her to temporarily keep them on his behalf. Subsequently, the woman received a call from a person who claimed to be a courier company staff member, stating that she needed to pay 33,300 yuan in order to receive the US$5 million in cash and the documents. After remitting the money as instructed on June 11, the purported courier company staff member called again and asked for a “tax” payment. The victim finally realised that she had been defrauded and reported the case to the police, saying that she had lost 33,300 yuan in the scam.
The Judiciary Police are investigating the two cases, and no-one had been arrested at the time of Wednesday’s press conference.
