Macau’s number of reported fraud cases related to online shopping increased 44.4 percent year-on-year to 65 in the first half of this year, Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak said in a statement yesterday.
In response to the increase in the number of online-shopping-related fraud cases, the statement said, the police have constantly been updating the public, through both new media and traditional media, about the latest modus operandi of fraud related to online shopping.
In the first six months of this year, the statement said, Macau’s various law enforcement agencies recorded 4,983 suspected crimes, a year-on-year decrease of 15.8 percent.
“Macau’s public security landscape remained good and stable in the first half of this year. The number of most types of crimes saw a decrease compared to the same period of last year, particularly computer crimes whose number saw an obvious drop,” the statement said.
Computer crime drops 82.7 pct
According to the statement, the number of reported computer crimes dropped 82.7 percent year-on-year to 107 cases in the first half of this year, or 510 fewer cases than in the same period of last year when 617 such cases were reported.
The statement said that the “huge” decrease in the number of computer crimes shows that “tailor-made” measures that have been rolled out by the police have been “significantly” effective.
According to the statement, the number of reported violent crimes fell 35.7 percent year-on-year to 83 cases in the first half of this year.
The police recorded 13 arson cases in the first half of this year, 11 fewer cases than in the same period of last year, or a 45.8 percent year-on-year reduction.
Five robberies were reported in the first six months of this year, also 11 fewer cases than in the same period of last year, representing a 68.8 percent year-on-year drop.
According to the statement, 14 rape cases were reported in the first six months of the year, two cases down from last year’s corresponding period.
Child sex cases up 70 pct
However, the statement said, the number of reported child sexual abuse cases increased 70 percent year on year to 17 in the first half of this year, or seven cases more than in the same period of last year.
Moreover, four cases of sex (such as vaginal intercourse, anal sex, or oral sex) with a minor aged at least 14 but under 16 were reported in the first six months of the year, the same as last year’s corresponding period.
According to the statement, one homicide case involving two victims was recorded in the first half of this year.
The statement pointed out that the homicide case was reported in early May, when two female mainlanders were found to have been murdered in a hotel guestroom in Cotai. The statement noted that the male suspect, also a mainlander, returned to the mainland shortly after the case, and Macau’s police identified him through their citywide CCTV camera system and reported the case to their mainland counterparts. The suspect was arrested in a town in Huaihua city in Hunan province later the same month.
Nevertheless, the statement reaffirmed that no or very few serious violent crime cases such as kidnapping, causing grievous bodily harm, and homicide were reported during the first half of this year.
According to the statement, 28 drug-selling cases were reported in the first half of this year, 11 cases down from the same period of last year, or a 28.2 percent year-on-year reduction.
The statement also said that the total number of reported fraud cases dropped 2.8 percent year-on-year to 648 in the first half of this year, or down by 19 cases.
According to the statement, fraud cases involving online love and those involving online investment saw a more significant year-on-year decrease in the first six months of the year, when 17 cases and 36 cases were reported respectively, representing a year-on-year drop of 37 percent and 33.3 percent.
Rise in naked-chat extortion
Moreover, the statement also said that 57 extortion cases were reported in the first six months of this year, nine cases up from last year’s corresponding period, or an 18.8 percent year-on-year increase. The statement said that blackmail involving online naked chats accounted for the highest percentage of the total number of reported extortion cases in the first half of this year, when 34 online-naked-chat blackmail cases were reported, representing 59.6 percent of all reported extortion cases.
In addition, the statement also said that “many” students have become victims of online-naked-chat blackmail cases in recent months.
Rising unemployment might affect public security
Meanwhile, the statement said that while Macau’s unemployment rate among local residents has been constantly increasing due to the ongoing adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the local economy – 4.5 percent in the first quarter and 4.8 percent in the second quarter, the total number of reported crimes has been dropping during the period. Consequently, the statement said, the local police have concluded that so far the ongoing rise in the unemployment rate has had no significant impact on the city’s public security.
However, the statement warned that if Macau’s unemployment rate continued to rise, various types of social contradictions might intensify, which would result in more types of unstable factors that could adversely affect Macau’s public security landscape.
Gaming-related crimes decrease
The statement also said that Macau’s number of gaming-related crimes increased to 361 cases in the first half of last year from 213 cases in 2020’s corresponding period, but dropped again to 198 cases in the first six months of this year. The statement noted that since early this year, various areas in the mainland as well as Macau had been hard hit by successive Omicron outbreaks, resulting in a year-on-year decrease in the number of visitor arrivals to Macau in the first half of this year. The statement underlined that the Macau police forces’ operations that solved many gaming-related crimes in the period have deterred potential criminals, which was also a factor for the decrease in the number of gaming-related crimes in the first six months of this year.
This recent photo shows Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak addressing Monday’s press conference at the S. Francisco Barracks about the government’s ongoing public consultation on its local national security law amendment bill. – Photo: Tony Wong
