A male and a female, both locals under the age of 30, have separately fallen for online scams, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chan Wun Man said in a regular press conference yesterday.
In the first case, the male victim came across an online post which claimed to offer men from Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan the chance to meet up with women. The victim followed the instructions, paying an 88 pataca “membership fee”, to join the scheme.
On Friday, upon a “customer service” request, the victim transferred around 3,000 patacas as a “gift” to complete a certain task, and the victim later received the refund that he had been promised.
Later, the purported customer service once more asked the victim for a “gift,” prompting another transfer of funds. However, the “customer service” alleged an error on the victim’s part and demanded more money. In total, the victim transferred 79,300 patacas before finally realising that it was a scam, leading him to report the case to the police.
In the second case, the female victim on June 2 met a purportedly US-born Chinese man on an online app and started a virtual “romantic” relationship with him the same day, and soon after the man claimed to be sick and asked the victim for money for medical treatment.
Between that day and earlier this month, the victim transferred a total of 18,000 patacas multiple times to the man. When she requested repayment of the debt last week, the man continuously delayed and asked for more money, leading the victim to report the case to the police.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chan Wun Man looks on during yesterday’s regular press conference. – Photo: William Chan
