Two men from the mainland have been arrested for pretending to be “waterproofers” who cheated two locals out of a total of 60,000 patacas, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lou Chan Fai said during a special press conference yesterday.
The two suspects, both in their forties, are surnamed Lu and Wang. Both told the police that they’re renovation workers. They do not have work permits in Macau.
The Judiciary Police received a report earlier this month regarding a home improvement scam. The victim told the police that she had contacted a “waterproofing contractor” through an online advertisement after discovering a water leakage in her flat. Two men claiming to be “waterproofers” visited the victim’s flat to conduct purported tests. Subsequently, they informed the victim that the water leakage issue could be resolved by injecting waterproofing materials, priced at 580 patacas per pound.
After the finishing the “job”, the “waterproofers” claimed to have used 54 pounds of materials and demanded 31,000 patacas from the victim. The victim paid the amount. However, upon realising that the leakage problem persisted, she turned to social media and discovered that others had also been deceived by a similar fraud. Subsequently, she reported the incident to the police.
The police identified and contacted another local male who had also fallen victim to a similar tactic, losing 29,500 patacas.
The police arrested the “waterproofers” on Friday at a hotel in the city centre. They refused to cooperate.
The duo were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing charges of organised crime and fraud, Lou noted.
This undated photo provided by the Judiciary Police (PJ) shows evidence including banknotes and “waterproofing” tools and materials.
