Crime | Phone scams continue to find victims among university students

Telephone scams continue to find victims among university students. According to the figures presented in the third quarter crime statistics, almost all the victims of phone scams have in common the fact that they are originally from mainland China, are of a young age (18-23) and are studying in the region’s tertiary institutions.

During yesterday’s joint press conference by the Judiciary Police (PJ) and the Public Security Police Force (PSP), the spokesperson from the PJ reported four similar cases which were brought to the security forces’ attention last weekend. In each of the four instances, female students from the mainland studying at the University of Macau (UM) between 18 and 22 years of age, were victims.

In all the cases, the modus operandi was the same. The students received a call from an unknown number in which they were told they were speaking to an officer from the Immigration Department at Pac On. The call was then transferred to another individual who stated that they were from a mainland provincial authority, claiming that the victim was involved in some kind of “economic crime” and that they needed to transfer a sum of money in order to solve the problem.

In all the cases reported yesterday, the students proceeded with payments, and reported combined losses of over RMB175,000.

In the first case alone, an 18-year-old student bank-transferred RMB49,100, as well as providing all her personal online banking codes which lead to the loss of an additional RMB100,500, was were in the same bank account.

The other cases also registered loses, however because their accounts did not have as much money, the losses were smaller than those of the first victim.

The police said they believed that the victims are not randomly chosen but directly targeted as a result of the belief that mainland students in local tertiary institutions come from relatively wealthy families and from a traditional culture in which money  solves problems.

In a separate story, a local resident (22) was also involved in a swindle over the acquisition of two tickets for a concert in Hong Kong via a Facebook group.

The woman was part of a group on the social network solely dedicated to the buying and selling of tickets for concerts. In this group she saw a person allegedly from the neighboring region of Hong Kong who was advertising special VIP tickets at a discount price for a concert happening on December 3.

She contacted the seller and she reportedly said he even sent her a photo of “his” Hong Kong identification card in order to gain her trust. Then she transferred the requested amount of Hong Kong1,460 to an account in Hong Kong.

On the concert day she headed to Hong Kong and waited at the arranged location for the seller, who never showed up. After unsuccessfully attempting to contact him, she decided to present a complaint to the PJ upon her return from Hong Kong.

Another swindle case also occurred through the internet. A male resident (32) reportedly lost the sum of RMB5,200.

According to his story told to the police force, on December 10 he was playing an online game where he met another player. After exchanging WeChat accounts, they continued to communicate and the suspect told him that he could make “easy investments” of money with a guaranteed ten-fold return within a couple of hours or days.

The swindler then sent to the local man photographs of receipts allegedly proving the transference of the money to other users, and he agreed to transfer the aforementioned amount to him.

After that the victim noticed that the swindler had blocked him from We Chat and he realized that he had been scammed, thus going to present his claim to the PJ. 

Police targets Mongolian shoplifters

The PSP performed several operations in order to tackle the alleged criminal activities of several Mongolian nationals operating in Macau. The PSP ran these operations as a “security response” acting on a “tip-off” from sources they declined to reveal.

The PSP spokesperson mentioned that both cases occurred on December 9 (Saturday) around the same area in NAPE.

In the first case, the police officers approached a Mongolian woman, aged 43,  who was said to be acting suspiciously in Rua de Malaca around 6 p.m.

The officers searched her handbag and found a ticket for the luggage storage of a hotel located in the area which they proceeded to investigate.

The search revealed that inside the luggage were a large number of brand-new clothing items (with tags still on) as well as perfumes and handbags worth a total of MOP12,100.

The PSP said the woman admitted later that all the merchandise had been stolen from several shops across town. The PSP visited those stores and spoke to the managers in order to identify the stolen items. In seven cases, the shops indicated that they were intending to take legal action against the woman.

In a separate case, at 4 p.m. at Avenida Amizade in the surroundings of the Golden Lotus Plaza, PSP officers reportedly found another two suspects, also of Mongolian nationality of 33 and 31 years.

A search in their luggage revealed a total of 40 clothing items that originated from three shops located at a Cotai area shopping mall. The items were worth a total of about MOP17,000.

Further investigation revealed that there was an accomplice to the crimes who is still on the run.

All three women that were taken into custody by the PSP were charged with theft and presented to the Public Prosecutions Office. Additionally, the same spokesperson said that the 31-year-old woman was also charged for presenting false declarations on the identity form that she filled in at the police station.

According to the police, several pieces of information and personal data that she wrote on the forms did not match with her documents, nor her official records.