More SMS phishing scams have appeared recently masquerading as various companies, the government warned yesterday, urging the public to on the alert for such text messages aiming to steal their personal data and credit card information.
The Judiciary Police (PJ) said in a statement yesterday that at least five more members of the public in the past week fell victim to the SMS phishing scams under the name of “Mannings”, resulting in a total loss of more than 30,000 patacas. The PJ statement added that the SMSs were headlined “expiry of bonus points” in order to trick members of the public into clicking on the phishing link in the respective SMS, purportedly offering products at a low price. However, the real aim of the SMSs was to acquire the receivers’ personal and credit card information, and then carry out unauthorised large-value transactions.
The statement quoted a clarification message from Mannings as underlining that the company never sends any text messages to its customers requesting sensitive personal information or any financial information, nor does it attach hyperlinks.
In a separate statement by the Macau Monetary Authority (AMCM) yesterday, in line with its requirements, AIA International Limited has issued a notice on its website www.aia.com.hk and mobile app to remind the public to be on the alert for SMS phishing scams impersonating the company.
Both the PJ and AMCM statements warned members of the public to always stay vigilant against such scams, urging them to call the PJ Anti-Fraud Enquiry Hotline on 8800 7777 or the Police Reporting Hotline 993 about any suspicious activity, or to check risk indices and contact information of financial institutions on the PJ anti-fraud programme and the ACMC website at www.amcm.gov.mo respectively.
This poster provided by the Judiciary Police (PJ) yesterday urges members of the public to be wary of fake “Mannings” point expiry SMS messages.
