Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Wai Lok said in a special press conference yesterday that a new scam tactic luring victims to the mainland to evade local police detection has emerged to defraud victims.
Chief investigator of the PJ’s anti-fraud coordination centre Cheong Un Hong said during the press conference that a mainland student studying at a local university had been deceived by scammers posing as police officers. The scammers instructed her to “hide” in a Zhuhai hotel as part of an “investigation.”
Cheong noted that the victim believed the scammers, rented a hotel room, and ceased all communication with her family and friends.
In a separate case, a local student studying at a university in Guangzhou also fell victim to a similar scam earlier this month. Blackmailed by the scammers, she asked her parents for 300,000 patacas, claiming that she needed the money to cover her tuition fees, after she had handed most of the money over to the scammers, she then cut off contact with her parents.
Thanks to the ongoing cooperation with the mainland’s Public Security Bureau (PSB), the police in Guangdong swiftly located both victims in hotels. The first victim did not suffer any financial loss, while the second victim lost 200,000 patacas.
Cheong underlined that the police would never ask residents to testify outside Macau or hide in a hotel. Residents should contact the Judiciary Police Anti-Scam Hotline on 8800 7777 or hotline 993 right away to report suspected phone scams and seek assistance.
During yesterday’s press conference, Ho noted that in two other recent cases, two university students from the mainland separately fell for a fake police scam, losing a total of 1.2 million yuan (about 1,338,128 patacas). Cheong urged parents to promptly seek verification from the university if their child suddenly requests a large sum of money for purported tuition purposes.
PJ chief investigator Cheong Un Hong speaks during yesterday’s special press conference about scammers luring their victims from Macau to the mainland.
– Photo: William Chan
