Nearly MOP4m reported in serial online shopping fraud

An alleged online shopping scam has impacted at least four people, reporting a total loss nearing MOP4 million, and led to the arrest of a woman, the Judiciary Police (PJ) disclosed yesterday.

The suspect is a local resident surnamed Lei, 38, who reportedly works as a housewife.

Between Jan. 19 and 29, four local women separately reported cases of fraud to the PJ. All accused Lei of scamming them.

Police investigations discovered that Lei had operated an online shopping business with other shareholders. She had reportedly persuaded the four complainants to buy high-end fashion items, such as handbags and watches, through her connections, in addition to suggesting they sell their used items on her platform.

On Feb. 27, PJ inspectors arrested the suspect, who admitted committing the crime. She also confessed that since 2022, she could no longer help purchase merchandise at prices lower than rack rates because she had lost her connections. In addition, due to living expenses, she has spent the money she obtained from her clients.

The four victims reported a total loss of MOP3.89 million. According to the police report, the first woman paid MOP561,000 to purchase merchandise and gave MOP1.91 million worth of items for sale. She could get neither the money nor the products back.

The second victim paid MOP1.49 million for purchases and later had MOP210,000 refunded by the suspect. The rest of the sum was neither refunded nor transformed into goods.

The third victim paid MOP104,200 and the fourth MOP35,520.

Cyberscams posing as employment opportunities were also logged, as the PJ disclosed in two similar cases yesterday.

The two victims were both in search of jobs and found a job posting online. After having initial contact, the so-called employers requested that both victims download an app and register their personal information on it for recruitment purposes.

The following day, both victims received notice of spending from their mobile payment platforms. The first victim was notified of a spend on MPay for the sum of MOP1,447, which she did not conduct.

The second victim received a one-time password for a transaction during the small hours, which was ignored, but in the morning a purchase of MOP3,600 was reportedly made.

Caution required for personal belongings

At the same press conference, the Public Security Police Force (PSP) disclosed that three separate reports of theft were received on Feb. 23 and 25 in the core tourist district of the Macau Peninsula.

Two of the cases involved pedestrians’ backpacks being secretly opened and property stolen. The remaining case concerned a shop from which an item was appropriated by the suspects.

After receiving the reports, the police reviewed footage from the public surveillance camera system and shops’ close-circuit television system. They discovered three highly suspicious people.

The three women suspects, all tourists holding Mongolian passports and aged 35 to 42 years, approached their targets as a group, with two of them helping to cover the targets’ backpacks, while the remaining person took items from the backpack.

After stealing, they would leave the location immediately.

On Feb. 26, officers on patrol discovered three people resembling the suspects. As the three left a shop in the São Domingos area, the officers confronted them.

The officers found an item that did not belong to the three people but was for sale at the shop. It was a small bottle of edible supplements and was valued at nearly MOP700.

While collecting their personal information at the police station, the police discovered one of three had a criminal record in the local security system. The person also made a different new personal data disclosure from the record that the police possessed.

During search and seizure at their rented room at a hotel in the Central district, the police found the clothes they wore when they were caught on the public surveillance camera system and the items they had stolen, including a wallet, some bank cards, some ID documents, the edible supplements, a small handbag valued at about MOP800, as well as cash amounting to approximately MOP2,800.