A local woman reported to the Judiciary Police (PJ) on Monday that she was cheated by an online netizen between 2020 and 2021 out of 720,000 patacas, PJ spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei said during yesterday’s press conference.
According to Lei, the victim told the police that she got to know a male netizen via a chat app in May 2020. The man told the victim that he was an “Italian engineer” and the duo became online friends. The man later told the victim that the water pipes in his home needed repairing but he had no money so he asked her to lend him the money. The victim then remitted some money to a bank account provided by the “Italian engineer”.
Lei said that the man later told the victim that he would post a parcel with a gift for her. However, he kept her asking her multiple times to pay various fees such as customs fees and tax. The victim made 23 remittances totalling 720,000 patacas between May 2020 and last December. However, she never received the “parcel”. Only recently when the victim discussed the matter with a relative did she finally realise that she had been cheated so she reported the case to the police.
