Local woman falls victim to fraud losing MOP1m

A young woman is believed to have fallen victim to a scam involving a suspect pretending to be a police officer.

The victim, after following the instructions provided by the scammer and inquiring about the status of her case with the local police station, discovered that she had been deceived and had lost MOP1 million.

According to police reports, the victim received a phone call in June, during which she was accused of being involved in various crimes, including intimidation, fraud, and illegal gambling. The scammer was able to provide details about the victim’s home return permit, which led her to believe the claims were legitimate.

Consequently, she followed the instructions to book a hotel for three consecutive days, conducted daily video calls, and reported her whereabouts to the scammers, who posed as “public security” officials, without reaching out to anyone else.

The same instructions were given to an elderly woman who also fell victim to the scam, as reported by the police authorities Wednesday.

The police officer further explained that the scammer falsely asserted that the victim needed to deposit funds into a bank account to demonstrate that she had no financial issues.

The young woman complied and made multiple deposits totaling MOP800,000. Although the bank identified unusual transactions in her account and attempted to contact her, she ignored their calls. Ultimately, all MOP200,000 remaining in her account was transferred out.

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