Man loses MOP13,000 in employment website scam

An individual fell victim to a scam orchestrated through a part-time employment website, resulting in a substantial loss of MOP13,000, the Judiciary Police (PJ) has reported.

The victim, in pursuit of prospective job opportunities, ventured into an online chat group known as “Macau Resident Part-time Workers.” Within this group chat, the victim stumbled upon a seemingly promising job posting. The job appeared to be straightforward, merely requiring the victim to provide their personal phone number for registration purposes, followed by engagement with a website to perform various actions.

Following the instructions provided, the victim actively participated on the website by liking posts and following the specified page. After completion, the website claimed the victim had successfully earned RMB450, purportedly slated for transfer to the victim’s account. However, an additional step was presented before the transfer could be initiated.

The website requested the victim’s personal information from their MPay account, including sensitive details such as their password and payment code, along with their personal banking information. The victim complied with the requests, believing this would facilitate the transfer of the promised RMB450.

However, upon checking their account the next day, it became apparent that an alarming sum of MOP13,000 had been illicitly siphoned away from their account and redirected to an unknown recipient.

Worker arrested for stealing jewelry

A female worker in her fifties was arrested May 7 by Public Security Police (PSP) for stealing a gold ring from a jewelry shop.

According to the shop keeper, on the afternoon of May 6, the suspect entered the store and claimed she wanted to buy a ring for her daughter. The shop keeper took a gold ring from the display and let the suspect inspect it.

The suspect said she wanted to wait for her daughter to reply to see if she liked the ring and the shop keeper left her alone to attend to other customers. While waiting, the suspect took the ring and fled the scene.

After the shop keeper reported the incident to the police, officers reviewed the shop’s security footage. They identified the suspect and arrested her on the afternoon of May 7. The suspect admitted she intentionally stole the ring for her daughter. The ring was recovered from her residence and the suspect has been taken into custody to be charged. Howard Tong