Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Leng Kam Lon announced in a regular press conference yesterday at the PJ headquarters in Zape two separate investment scams victimising two middle-aged local women with their losses amounting to 260,000 yuan (289,000 patacas) and 799,000 patacas respectively.
Each victim met a male “friend” on social media who claimed to share their interest in investing in stocks. The “friends” then introduced the victims to an investment app where they could buy stocks, and both women then linked their bank accounts to the app, according to Leng.
In order to fully persuade the victims and to give them an illusion of legitimacy, initially both victims were able to receive and withdraw money from the investment app, with one of them “earning” 90,000 yuan and the other 500 patacas.
However, the first victim soon found out that she was unable to withdraw any more money from the app when other victims of a WeChat stocks investment group she had meanwhile been added to by her “friend” told the other members of the group that they were unable to withdraw any money from their investment accounts. Meanwhile, the other victim simply could not withdraw any more money from her account – neither the money that she had deposited nor her purported “earnings”.
The Judiciary Police urged anyone encountering fraud or suspecting to have been scammed to call their anti-fraud enquiry hotline 8800 7777 or the crime report hotline 993.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Leng Kam Lon looks on during yesterday’s regular press conference at the PJ headquarters in Zape. – Photo: Leong Ian Kio
