CRIME | Two men become victims in massage scam

Two men were involved in two separate cases of massage-related scams, with one of them losing nearly MOP73,000.
In the first case that took place on March 31 evening, the 30-year-old victim came across another man on an instant messaging system. The latter told the victim that he could provide massage services for MOP500 per hour.
Following the suspect’s directions, the victim bought the same worth of online gaming voucher and sent the suspect the activation code. He was later instructed to wait at the entrance of a building on Avenida de Horte e Costa, where he was told through the instant messaging app to buy more vouchers, which amounted to MOP10,000.
He immediately felt that he was being scammed and reported the case to the Judiciary Police (PJ) the following evening.
The other victim, a 29-year-old male, also came across a man over an instant messaging system at the end of March. Similar to the first case, the victim was told that the massage service was available at the price of MOP500 per hour.
The session that the victim paid for was scheduled for April 1 in Taipa.
Before the service, the suspect asked the victim for his phone number. Later, a Putonghua-speaking man called the number and asked the victim for more gaming vouchers.
The victim fell for it and sent 14 activation codes, amounting to MOP72,462, to the suspect. On the 15th occasion, the victim declared that he had no money but was threatened by the man on the other side, who claimed that the victim’s location was GPS-tracked.
After losing nearly MOP73,000, the victim decided to report the case to the police.
In another case, a mainland tourist was arrested by the Public Security Police Force (PSP) on allegations of sexual harassment against a Filipino housekeeping worker at a hotel.
The case took place last Saturday at a room in a Cotai hotel. The female housekeeping worker was conducting routine room cleaning when the suspect, a 51-year-old self-reported businessman, returned to the room.
Before the suspect came in, the housekeeper was alone in the room.
According to victim’s statement, the suspect said something to her. However, she did not understand what he said due to the language barrier.
Later, the suspect started rubbing his chest. Seeing the scene, the victim felt disturbed and tried to leave the room. It was reported that at the moment, the suspect touched the victim’s breast.
The suspect has denied the allegations, saying that the two only had shoulder-to-shoulder contact.