The Judiciary Police (PJ) busted 155 voice phishing scams and 436 online fraud cases in the first half of this year, with the total loss reaching nearly one billion patacas, Central District Community Service Consultative Council Deputy Convener Lei Chong In quoted PJ officers as saying yesterday during a closed-door meeting at the Activity Centre of the Patane Municipal Market.
The PJ officers, according to Lei, noted that in terms of online fraud, there was an upward trend compared to the same period of last year, with reported cases having increased from 299 in the first six months of 2022 to 436 this year, up 45.8 percent year on year. Among the 441 victims, 63 percent were females aged between 11 and 78, while about 19 percent were students.
Lei pointed out that the Judiciary Police investigated 155 voice phishing scam cases in the first half of this year, an increase of about three times over the same period last year, involving 157 victims aged between 18 and 95, with nearly 38 percent of them being students.
The PJ officers pointed out during the meeting that most of the suspects involved in the notorious “guess who I am” scams were mainlanders told by criminal gangs to collect fraud money from their victims in Macau, describing such scams as “roleplays”.
Lei quoted the PJ officers as underlining that the Judiciary Police would continue to tackle such scams by preventing crime, fighting crime, and trying their best to recover victims’ money.
In view of the fact that once scammers receive the money from their victims, they usually transfer the money as quickly as possible to overseas bank accounts and then “disperse” the money to thousands of bank accounts, it is difficult for the police to recover the victims’ money, said Lei, who quoted the PJ officers as urging those who believe that they fell for a scam to call the police as early as possible, so as to prevent, through the PJ emergency stop remittance mechanism, their money from being transferred out of Macau.
Lei made the remarks during a press briefing after the government-appointed council’s regular meeting.
Central District Community Service Consultative Council Deputy Convener Lei Chong In (centre) and two fellow members pose during yesterday’s press briefing after the government-appointed council’s closed-door meeting at the Patane Municipal Market’s Activity Centre. – Photo: IAM
