CRIME | Local schoolgirl swindled to buy ‘virtual items’

A local student became the victim of an online hoax when she attempted to buy “virtual items” from an unknown mainland store for a popular mobile game, revealed the Judiciary Police.
The victim reported her loss to the police last Thursday, claiming she had been paying an online agency, which had promised to offer her the “game equipment” at a price much lower than others. The scammer gave the victim a link via the Chinese instant messenger Tencent QQ, directing her to a site where she paid RMB360 for the offer. However, the agent insisted that her first payment had failed and demanded for her to conduct another payment. After repeated payments, the schoolgirl had paid a total amount of RMB10,440 before she realized that it was a fraud.
In a separate case, mechanical components of
a construction company’s
air purifiers, worth MOP 652,000, have been missing for around three months after disappearing from the company’s work- site in Cotai Strip, according to the Judiciary Police.
The disappearance of the parts triggered the company’s speculation that it could have been a theft. The components, bought in July last year, had long been placed on the first-floor terrace of the building at the site before they were relocated to another area for temporary storage on the same level in March this year, and this was when workers discovered their absence.
The company finally contacted the police last Friday concerning the possible theft. The group thought that the missing assembly might have been mistakenly stored elsewhere on the site by its staff over the past few months. Staff reporter