A 22-year-old non-resident worker, studying at a higher education institution in Macau has been targeted by a phone scam, the Judiciary Police (PJ) reported.
According to the PJ, although the phone scam followed the same modus operandi of previous scams, this case had a particular twist as the scammers, pretending to police officers from the mainland, used the initial pretext of contacting the student due to an alleged SMS sent via a mobile registered under her name that contained false information about the pandemic.
According to the victim’s report, the call came from a blocked number. The caller claimed to be an officer and said that an SMS had apparently been sent from a number registered to her name, which contained false information about the pandemic development. He noted that sending such a message was a punishable crime under the mainland laws.
That person noted that the police suspected it was not the student sending the SMS but someone who used her name to register a mobile phone, and asked if she wanted to file a complaint against whoever it was.
She immediately accepted the offer, and her call was forwarded to a second man who also claimed to be an officer and asked her to provide all her personal information.
This second person subsequently claimed that she was involved in an financial crime and that to prove her innocence, she needed to deposit RMB58,000 in a nominated bank account.
After she transferred the money, she mentioned the case to her university colleagues, and they informed her that it was likely to be a scam, prompting her to file a case with the PJ.
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