The Judiciary Police (PJ) issued a statement yesterday to warn residents of phone message scams where fraudsters send out messages posing as a consumer reward and points platform, claiming that the victims’ reward points will expire soon but can be redeemed for gifts, so as to trick victims into logging onto a fake website to obtain their personal information and credit card details.
The statement noted that the genuine reward points platform involved is available at some retail outlets in Macau and that there have been previous cases of similar message scams in Macau, and the platform involved has issued clarifications and reminders for residents to be aware of the scam.
The police reminded members of the public to check the authenticity and security of any website before accessing it, and not to provide any personal information in order to ensure the confidentiality of their bank accounts and credit cards.
In case of suspected fraud and other crimes, residents can call the Judiciary Police Fraud Enquiry Hotline on 8800 7777 or the Crime Reporting Hotline on 993 for assistance.
‘Placing order’ scam
In a separate statement, the Judiciary Police (PJ) reminded residents of SMS messages that offer “part-time jobs” to place orders which require an advance payment and promise a commission per order in return.
The messages claim that participants can earn more than 1,000 patacas per day, however, as evidenced by previous such cases, the participants were able to receive and withdraw their investments the first few times, but when the victims increase the amount of shopping they can no longer get their money back.
According to the statement, young people who are looking for a summer job should contact official recruitment agencies or legitimate employment agencies directly, and they should not naively believe in promises such as “work from home”, “no experience required” or “good pay”.
This poster provided by the Judiciary Police (PJ) yesterday reminds residents to be wary of “placing orders” scam messages.
