During a special press conference yesterday, Leng Kam Lon, spokesman for the Judiciary Police (PJ), announced the arrest of a male civil servant for assisting a fraud gang in their illegal activities in Macau.
The 45-year-old suspect is surnamed Chan.
According to Leng, a local victim told the police on Saturday that she had received phone calls from individuals claiming to be staff members of Apple and mainland police officers on December 2. The callers made preposterous allegations, claiming that a significant number of fraudulent messages had been sent from her mainland phone number. She even received fake arrest warrants in her mailbox last week, and was scammed out of 400,000 patacas after releasing her bank account information to the fraudsters.
The police subsequently identified the person who delivered the fake warrants as Chan and apprehended him on Saturday at his flat in San Kio district. Under questioning, he told the police that he had also fallen victim to a similar scam in October, incurring a loss of 750,000 patacas.
Leng noted that Chan had received counterfeit arrest warrants and confidentiality orders sent by the fraudsters, mistakenly believing them to be authentic. He was then coerced into assisting with other “investigations” by providing his personal bank account for the gang to purchase cryptocurrency and delivering forged documents to other victims’ homes.
Leng noted that the police uncovered five additional victims who were deceived by the documents Chan had delivered. Among these victims were three local residents who collectively lost a total of 2.7 million patacas, a non-resident worker (NRW) from the mainland who suffered a loss of one million patacas, and a Hong Kong resident. The Judiciary Police have meanwhile liaised with the Hong Kong police to help them investigate the case.
Chan has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing fraud charges, according to Leng.
A PJ investigator noted during the press conference that members of the public always should stay alert for smartphone scams, urging them to avoid clicking on unknown links, and hang up when they are asked to submit personal or bank information, or reject the demand outright.
The investigator pointed out that the public should contact the Judiciary Police’s Anti-scam hotline on 8800 7777 or the crime report hotline on 993 when they receive suspicious calls or have been defrauded, regardless of whether they have suffered any financial losses.
A Judiciary Police (PJ) investigator announced yesterday the details of the fraud and warns of the scam tactics. – Photos: William Chan
Evidence such as fake police warrants is displayed at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters yesterday during the special press conference.
