A Hong Kong man has been arrested in an ongoing investigation into a telephone fraud scam, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Leng Kam Lon said in a special press conference yesterday.
Leng identified the scam tactic as “guess who I am”, which usually involves swindlers pretending to be a relative or a friend of the victim.
The suspect is a 23-year-old construction worker surnamed Wang.
According to Leng, the police received a report in May from a local female victim in her seventies. She told the police that she had received a phone call from an individual claiming to be her son-in-law, who alleged that he had been involved in a fight and was required to pay compensation.
Believing it to be her son-in-law’s voice, the victim handed over 120,000 patacas to two men, including Wang, who collected the money from her residence near Praça de Ponte e Horta. After contacting her actual son-in-law, she realised that she had been scammed.
Wang was intercepted by the police when he entered Macau through the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal on Sunday. He admitted to the crime and told the police that he received payment of HK$30,000 from the gang for the crime.
Leng added that Wang was also involved in a similar case in March. In that case, a woman in her sixties reported having been deceived using the same method and losing HK$30,000.
Wang was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing fraud and organised crime charges, according to Leng. The Judiciary Police are continuing their investigation into the case, looking for other possible suspects.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the hooded fraud suspect from Hong Kong from the PJ headquarters to a PJ vehicle. – Photo: William Chan
