A woman was arrested for scamming a laptop seller, while the police were still tracking down her accomplice, Public Security Police (PSP) Lam Keong said at a regular press conference on Monday.
Lam said that the suspect surnamed Chen is a non-resident worker (NRW) from the mainland. She and her male accomplice are colleagues who worked as waiters.
According to Lam, the female victim became acquainted with both on a social platform in March, and in late August the male scammer told the victim that he wanted to buy four laptops from her.
During the face-to-face transaction outside a shop in Taipa, Chen appeared instead and paid for one of the laptops, adding that her colleague would pay for the rest of them later. The victim trusted her and handed the four laptops to her.
Lam noted that when the victim asked the male scammer for the money later on, he kept coming up with excuses, and eventually the victim lost contact with them. She sought help from the police on September 1, saying that she “lost” three laptops worth 29,500 patacas.
According to Lam, after scrutinising the CCTV city-wide camera system, PSP officers identified Chen and arrested her on November 1 at the shop where the transaction had taken place.
Under questioning, Chen admitted helping her colleague to collect the laptops, but denied involvement in the scam, saying that she had already paid for her own laptop.
Chen has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing a fraud charge, Lam said.
This undated pixelated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) on Monday shows the suspect being escorted by PSP officers to a police station.
