The Judiciary Police (PJ) warned members of the public in a Saturday statement of reports it had recently received about a “recycling used objects scam”, victims of which discovered unauthorised charges on their credit cards.
Describing the modus operandi, the statement said that victims came across posts that claimed to “recycle used pianos” or “recycle old appliances” on a social networking platform.
They then contacted the “customer service representative” and once the quantity and price were settled, the “representative” told victims to download a mobile app through an unidentified link, the statement added.
Victims were required to register for an account on the app, provide their personal address, and pay a 10-pataca “service fee” using a credit card, later realising that they were scammed after finding tens of thousands of patacas charged to their credit cards, according to the statement.
To prevent sensitive information from being stolen, the police warned members of the public not to download and install apps from unknown sources.
The statement pointed out that one can use PJ’s “Anti-Fraud Programme” to check the risk index, contact the anti-fraud enquiry hotline on 8800 7777 or the crime report hotline at 993 when in doubt.
This poster provided by the Judiciary Police (PJ) on Saturday warns members of the public of the “recycling used objects scam”.
