The Judiciary Police (PJ) uncovered on Wednesday, once again, four “guess who I am” phone scams, in which Hong Kong gang members purporting to be the victims’ “grandsons” and “sons-in-law” cheated three elderly local women out of a total of 270,000 patacas, PJ spokesman Chan Wun Man said during a special press conference yesterday.
The three victims reported their separate losses of 10,000 patacas, 60,000 patacas and 200,000 patacas to the Judiciary Police last week, saying that they had received calls on their landlines from their “grandsons” and “sons-in-law” who, respectively, told them that they had injured someone and been required to pay 10,000 patacas, 60,000 patacas and 600,000 patacas as “compensation” and “surgical fees”, asking the victims to hand the amount of cash over to “lawyers” outside their homes in the central and northern districts, according to Chan.
While the Judiciary Police were investigating the scams, PJ officers received another “guess who I am” phone scam report from a member of the public, who was asked by the purported “son-in-law” to hand over 100,000 patacas as “compensation” to a “lawyer” at a bus stop near her home in the northern district on Wednesday, Chan said, adding that upon receipt of the report, the Judiciary Police set up surveillance at the scene, where PJ officers arrested the “lawyer” and his accomplice.
Under questioning, Chan noted, the “lawyer” from Hong Kong, 29, surnamed Chow, admitted to having been told by a gang to collect the fraudulently obtained money in Macau and to pass it on to his accomplice, a fellow Hongkonger, 19, surnamed Wong.
According to Chan, the Judiciary Police also caught the third Hong Kong suspect, 23, surnamed Luk, red-handed on the same day when he was collecting 400,000 patacas in cash from the third victim in the city centre.
Chan said that the Judiciary Police yesterday transferred the three male suspects, who refused to cooperate with the police, to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for further investigation, facing charges of organised crimes and fraud involving a considerably large sum of money.
Meanwhile, Chan noted that since last month the Judiciary Police have uncovered five “guess who I am” phone scams involving 15 local elderly people who incurred a total loss of about 1.5 million patacas, in which seven Hong Kong suspects were arrested and 650,000 patacas were recovered. Chan added that the Judiciary Police believe that at least one Hong Kong criminal organisation is involved in the reported scams.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the three hooded fraud suspects from Hong Kong involving at least 4 “guess who I am” phone scams from the PJ headquarters in Zape to a PJ vehicle yesterday. – Photo: Yuki Lei
