The Judiciary Police (PJ) said in a statement yesterday that some 70 percent of the victims of phone scams – in which the fraudsters pretended to be local law enforcement officers – reported in the first nine months of the year were young people aged under 35.
According to the statement, between January and September 76 phone scam cases were reported in which fraudsters pretended to be local customs, immigration officers or PJ officers. There were only six such cases reported during the same period last year, the statement said.
The statement said the victims lost money in 68 of the 76 reported cases.
The statement said that 69.1 percent of the victims who lost money in the 68 cases were aged 34 or below.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers distribute anti-phone scam leaflets to young people in a restaurant near Avenida de Horta e Costa yesterday. Photo: PJ
