An 11-year-old girl was duped by a “fake police” scam into handing over her grandmother’s online banking details and transferring 65,000 patacas, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chao Teng Hin said yesterday.
Chao said the case was believed to involve the youngest victim of a “fake police” scam uncovered by the Judiciary Police to date.
According to Chao, the girl borrowed her grandmother’s mobile phone at about 11:00 a.m. on Saturday to do her homework online. While using the phone, she chatted with strangers on “Douyin” and subsequently received a message from an unknown person.
The sender claimed to know that she was a minor and falsely accused her of causing 60,000 patacas belonging to a company to be frozen while using Douyin. The girl was told by that person that if she failed to cooperate, her parents could be held responsible for the money, face imprisonment, and even have her future university studies affected.
Chao added that the scammer then instructed her to add a WeChat account, where another person claiming to be a “Beijing Public Security Bureau officer” offered to help resolve the matter.
Believing the claims, the girl followed the purported officer’s instructions to activate screen sharing on the phone and disclosed her grandmother’s bank transfer password.
Chao also said the girl had previously seen her grandmother shopping online during a holiday and had learnt the password.
About three hours later, at around 2:00 p.m., the grandmother took back her phone and discovered that transfers totalling 65,000 patacas had been made to unknown recipients. She subsequently reported the case to the police.
The Judiciary Police urged parents to safeguard financial information, communicate closely with their children, and remind them not to trust strangers they meet online.
Residents who suspect they have encountered a scam can use the Judiciary Police’s “Anti-Fraud Programme” to check the risk level, or seek assistance by calling the anti-fraud enquiry hotline on 8800 7777 or the crime report hotline on 993.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chao Teng Hin looks on during yesterday’s regular press conference. – Photo: Sherwin Hng
