A statement by the Secretariat for Security (GSS) on Friday noted that it will launch an anti-fraud WeChat Mini Programme next month to help members of the public identify fraudsters’ sock puppet accounts, as well as to obtain the latest anti-fraud information in a more convenient and timely manner.
The secretariat published an article introducing the anti-fraud WeChat Mini Programme and summarising the types of fraud cases and their modi operandi in the past year, with a view to raising public awareness of fraud prevention.
The mini programme provides four functions, the statement said, namely Fraud Finder, which enables users to verify suspicious phone numbers or bank accounts; Fraud Reporting, which allows users to report clues or information to the police to alert and analyse fraud crime trends; Anti-Scam Knowledge, which provides information on telecommunication network fraud, fraud prevention techniques and police notices; and Scam Case Simulation, which provides scenes for users to experience first-hand fraudulent practices.
The statement said that the programme is currently undergoing intensive testing and optimisation and is expected to be officially launched in April.
There are mainly four types of scams – fake police scams, investigation scams, online ticket scams, and phishing scams, the statement pointed out, adding that the number of “guess who I am” telephone and cyber fraud cases committed under various pretexts such as online romance, online ordering and online shopping are showing different levels of increase, and the whole community should remain vigilant.
According to the PJ 2023 statistics, there were 407 cases of telephone fraud, 871 cases of internet fraud and 329 cases of credit card-related computer fraud, recording year-on-year increases of 263 percent, 43 percent and 89 percent respectively, with the monthly figures of these crimes recorded in January this year exceeding last year’s monthly averages.
The statement said this indicates that some members of the public still have “weak” anti-fraud awareness, adding that telecommunication network fraud has become a global crime phenomenon in recent years, and Macau is “not immune to it”.
In addition, the statement noted that law enforcement entities would not ask members of the public to deposit money into purported “safe accounts” or conduct “fund audits” on them, the statement said.
The statement urged members of the public to follow the PJ’s WeChat public account so that they could be notified as soon as the anti-fraud mini programme is launched, and suggested users promote it to their friends and relatives, so as to continuously build up a strong line of defence for the police and the public against fraud.
This QR Code provided by the Secretariat for Security (GSS) on Friday shows the Judiciary Police’s (PJ) WeChat public account.
