Central District Community Service Consultative Committee member Chan Hio Teng said yesterday that phone scams remained the most prevalent type of fraud in Macau last year, accounting for 70 percent of all reported scam cases and causing significant financial losses, particularly among students, according to the Judiciary Police (PJ).
Chan made the remarks during a press conference after a regular closed-door meeting at the Patane Municipal Market Complex yesterday, with the attendance of PJ officials who were present to provide updates on their crime prevention efforts.
Chan quoted data from the Judiciary Police revealing that 243 phone scam cases were recorded last year, which accounted for 70 percent of all kinds of scam cases, with fake police scams being the most financially damaging, which resulted in losses exceeding 14 million patacas, making up 92 percent of the total losses from phone scams.
Central District Community Service Consultative Committee Deputy Convener Pui Seng In added that 109 cases involved student victims, with losses surpassing 6.8 million patacas.
While investment scams accounted for only 9 percent of reported cases, they caused the highest overall financial damage, totalling over 48 million patacas, Chan quoted PJ officials as saying, adding that to combat the rising threat of scams, PJ officers conducted 697 anti-fraud promotion activities across various neighbourhoods, attracting more than 126,000 participants.
Additionally, an anti-cyberfraud WeChat Mini Program launched by the Judiciary Police in April last year recorded over 50,000 hits by December, demonstrating its growing reach and effectiveness, Chan said.
Pui yesterday quoted PJ officials as saying that the number of online scam cases last year had dropped in comparison to 2023, and that promotional efforts to prevent scams on campus would continue in the future.
Pui emphasised the importance of a multi-faceted approach to fraud prevention, with efforts including integrating anti-scam content into university curricula, developing online learning systems with anti-fraud quizzes, and disseminating anti-scam information to parents through express delivery and registered mail.
“We aim to create a comprehensive anti-fraud network that not only targets students but also involves families and society as a whole,” Pui said.
Central District Community Service Consultative Committee Deputy Convener Pui Seng In (right) briefs reporters after yesterday’s closed-door meeting with representatives from Judiciary Police (PJ) at Patane Municipal Market Complex, while committee member Chan Hio Teng looks at her notes.
