The Judiciary Police (PJ) warned members of the public of MPay phishing SMS scams during a regular press conference yesterday, noting that since last October 67 cases have been reported, resulting in a total loss of about 400,000 patacas.
A PJ officer from the Anti-Fraud Coordination Centre told yesterday’s press conference that fraud cases typically involve two methods, both of which exploit victims through fake MPay SMS messages containing phishing links. In the first type of fraud, victims are informed that their MPay points are about to expire, and they could redeem gifts by paying one pataca using their credit card. However, once victims enter their credit card details, the fraudsters exploit the information, resulting in a financial loss.
The second type of fraud requires victims to log into a website and provide their MPay account usernames and passwords to purportedly redeem points for gifts. Unfortunately, this leads to the theft of the victims’ MPay accounts and subsequent financial losses.
An MPay representative told the press conference that members of the public should always use the authentic MPay app when carrying out any MPay gift redeem or transaction, adding that MPay will never request any bank or personal information on any website.
Suspected fraud should immediately be reported to the Judiciary Police’s Anti-Fraud Enquiry hotline on 8800 7777 or the crime report hotline at 993 for assistance.
According to the official website of MPay, developed by Macau Pass, MPay is the leading mobile payment e-wallet in Macau. It allows users to link multiple bank accounts or credit cards to their e-wallet account. MPay offers a wide array of features, such as online and offline payments, P2P transfers, payment of telecom and utility bills, online ticketing, MPark services, and a transport QR Code for bus rides.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Leng Kam Lon (centre), flanked by a PJ investigator (left) and a MPay representative, all look on during yesterday’s regular press conference.
– Photo: William Chan
