A local woman who suspects that her ID card data has been used three times by someone to buy facemasks from pharmacies reported the case to the police last Saturday, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lai Man Vai said during a regular press conference on Tuesday.
According to Lai, the victim told the police that she went to a pharmacy in Taipa last Saturday to buy facemasks under the government’s facemask-purchase scheme, but was informed by the staff that she had already bought facemasks from another pharmacy on the peninsula during the current round of the scheme, based on the records shown on their computer.
Under the scheme, each resident and non-resident worker has the right to buy 10 facemasks at the fixed price of 8 patacas.
Lai said that the victim’s ID card data was illegally used twice previously to buy facemasks, adding that the victim has filed a complaint with the Health Bureau (SSM).
The victim also told the police that her original ID card is with her and she did not authorise anyone to buy facemasks on her behalf, nor did she give her ID card to anyone. As this is the third time that her ID card data was used by someone, she decided to report the case to the police last Saturday.
Meanwhile, Lai also said on Tuesday that the police were informed about two more online facemasks fraud cases last Friday, one by a male and the other by a female local resident. The two victims were requested to transfer money to a bank account by the same online store, but later they could not find the physical store in the city centre to pick up the facemasks. The two victims lost a total of 700 patacas.
According to previous police reports, Macau has been hit by a string of facemask-related fraud cases over the past few months.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lai Man Vai (left) and his Public Security Police (PSP) counterpart Cheong Heon Fan address Tuesday’s regular press conference in the pressroom of the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters. Photo: Camy Tam
