The Judiciary Police (PJ) announced yesterday that 73 people became victims of scam calls impersonating Alipay or Taobao customer service representatives between August 11 and Wednesday this week, with total losses amounting to 7.13 million patacas.
Cheong Un Hong, who heads the PJ Anti-fraud Coordination Centre, briefed the media about the latest data involving this type of frauds and its modus operandi during a special press conference yesterday.
According to Cheong, the 73 victims comprised 71 local residents and two non-local people; 28 males and 45 females; 28 young people, 41 middle-aged people and four senior citizens.
Cheong, also a PJ spokesman, noted that each of the 73 victims lost nearly 100,000 patacas on average, with the smallest amount being 500 patacas and the largest loss amounting to 1.3 million patacas.
Cheong also said that between August 11 and Wednesday this week, 433 residents who received scam calls impersonating Alipay or Taobao customer service representatives avoided being defrauded as, instead of falling into the scammers’ trap, they called the PJ anti-fraud hotline or contacted the PJ anti-fraud app to inform the Judiciary Police about the unsuccessful scamming attempts.
Cheong also reminded the public yesterday that “funds security insurance” services provided by the Alipay or Taobao platforms are always free so that customers are not required to renew such services. Consequently, Cheong pointed out, any calls claiming to be from Alipay or Taobao customer service representatives about expiring “funds security insurance” are certainly scams.
Judiciary Police (PJ) Anti-fraud Coordination Centre head Cheong Un Hong speaks during yesterday’s press conference about scam calls impersonating Alipay or Taobao customer service representatives. – Photo: PJ
