Eight fall victim to ‘scam within a scam’ in online meal voucher fraud

Eight individuals have fallen prey to an elaborate online fraud scheme involving discounted meal vouchers, with three of them suffering a second layer of deception after attempting to claim refunds.

The Judiciary Police (PJ) have launched an investigation into the case, which saw victims lose a combined total of MOP15,204 between June 20 and 24.

The eight victims comprise a local male youth, two local middle-aged men, two local middle-aged women, two local elderly residents, and a middle-aged mainland Chinese female non-resident worker. According to police, all came across social media posts appearing to originate from a travel agency, advertising meal vouchers at attractive discounted rates.

The amounts paid varied among victims. One elderly woman and one middle-aged man each paid MOP410 for one or two vouchers respectively.

A male youth and another middle-aged man paid MOP1,225 and MOP1,351 for five and four vouchers. An elderly man and two middle-aged women paid MOP590, MOP1,189, and MOP2,174 for one, four, and three vouchers respectively.

After payments were transferred, the poster informed all buyers that bookings were fully booked and proactively offered refunds, providing a QR code for the process. However, three victims who scanned the refund QR code immediately discovered that funds had been drained from their e-payment accounts or used to make unauthorized purchases on mainland e-commerce platforms.

Including their initial voucher payments, these three reported individual losses of MOP4,903, MOP2,794, and MOP1,666, respectively.

Four other victims chose not to scan the refund QR code and reported losing only the amounts paid for the vouchers, escaping further financial damage. The remaining victim, a female non-resident worker, first attempted to scan a payment QR code transferring MOP490 but was unsuccessful. Upon scanning a second payment QR code provided by the poster, she discovered that MOP1,478 had been withdrawn from her e-payment account.

This case highlights the growing sophistication of online scams, where fraudsters not only pocket initial payments but also exploit refund processes to drain victims’ digital wallets.

The PJ has reminded the public to exercise caution when making online purchases, particularly when deals appear too good to be true, and to verify the legitimacy of sellers before transferring any funds. Refund processes should only be conducted through official platforms, and unsolicited QR codes should be treated with suspicion.

The investigation remains ongoing as authorities work to trace the syndicate behind the scheme.