The Judiciary Police (PJ) said in a statement yesterday that members of the public have recently informed them of receiving fraudulent calls from the “PJ’s Headquarters – Case Reporting and Emergency Operation Centre”, which has a similar number to the genuine one.
The statement said that the scammers claimed to be a PJ officer who knew the name and ID card information of the victims, falsely claiming that their mobile phone number in the mainland had sent out a large number of fraudulent SMS messages.
The scammers asked the victims to call a “police officer” from the mainland to cooperate with the investigation as soon as possible, otherwise his or her Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macau Residents would be cancelled.
Suspecting fraud, the victims hung up immediately and reported the calls to the Judiciary Police. The statement pointed out that the public should be wary of identity theft and fraud, underlining that PJ officers will not call members of the public from the telephone number “+0853 2855 7777”.
Moreover, in order to avoid becoming a fraud victim, the statement urged the public not to reveal personal information to anyone in unsolicited phone calls; to confirm the caller’s identity through reliable means; be mindful that caller IDs can be faked through computer software to pretend that the caller is from a particular organisation; hang up if a stranger asks the callee to send or transfer money; share crime prevention tips with family and friends; and if a scam or other crimes are suspected, one should phone the PJ Anti-scam hotline on 8800 7777 or crime report hotline on 993 right away.
This poster provided by the Judiciary Police (PJ) yesterday warns members of the public of fraudulent calls from the “PJ’s Headquarters - Case Reporting and Emergency Operation Centre”.
