Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chan Wun Man said in a special press conference yesterday that due to public alertness about fraudulent phone calls, at least 1,041 residents were able to avoid being scammed.
However, he stressed that new scam tactics which manipulate victims into unwittingly assisting the scammers in their fraudulent activities have emerged to defraud victims.
Chief investigator of the PJ’s anti-fraud coordination centre Cheong Un Hong said during the press conference that two mainland university students had been told by scammers, who pretended to be mainland police officers, to print out “arrest warrants” and deliver them to two local residents who are in their thirties and forties.
Cheong noted that the two local victims fell for the scam after seeing the documents, and were cheated out of 600,000 patacas and 900,000 patacas respectively.
Cheong urged residents, particularly students who may lack social experience, to be always aware of fraud prevention measures, adding that the scam caller might have residents’ identity information and, consequently, it was important to remain calm and not be intimidated by the fraudsters’ tactics.
According to Cheong, protecting oneself from phone scams requires categorically rejecting any requests for personal information, such as bank account details or app downloads, from unknown sources. In case a resident receives such a call, he or she should hang up immediately and contact the Judiciary Police Anti-Scam Hotline on 8800 7777 or hotline 993 right away to report the case to the police and seek assistance.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Chan Wun Man (left) and PJ chief investigator Cheong Un Hong looks on during yesterday’s special press conference. – Photo: William Chan
