New ‘wave of phone scams’ hits Macau

Macau telecommunications provider CTM said yesterday that it has received some 50 complaints relating to possible phone scams that occurred yesterday and on Sunday.

CTM customers complained about receiving numerous strange calls from numbers based in countries such as Papua New Guinea, Tonga, South Sudan, Somalia and possibly other jurisdictions.

The Times heard about cases of customers receiving multiple calls. For example, a couple living in Taipa received over ten phone calls from such locations on Sunday. Another couple, living in downtown Macau, received calls from Papua New Guinea around 6 a.m. yesterday (see screen shot). Many people on social media complained of receiving similar calls.

Speaking to the Times yesterday, a company representative said that based on the information currently available, CTM cannot confirm whether the scammers were truly based in these countries or whether they were redirecting their calls through a proxy.

Asked if the phone scammers obtained access to phone records through a data breach, the CTM representative said “we do not know that” at this stage.

The Macao Post and Telecommunications Bureau (CTT), which regulates the sector, said that there was a “very low possibility that the customer databases of Macau’s telecom operators have been breached by hackers.”

“CTT believes that the scammers target Macau’s citizens on a massive scale with randomly generated numbers confirming to Macau’s numbering plan,” it added in an email to the Times.

The regulator also said it is following up the case with the relevant parties.

Meanwhile, the Judiciary Police issued an alert via SMS to warn people of “a new wave of phone scams” targeting Macau phone users.

In a note to the Times, the entity advised locals to stay wary, safeguard personal information and never disclose personal details to anyone on an unsolicited phone call.

“Criminals obtain your information via illegal means and use it to commit fraud or other crimes,” the Judiciary Police added. “The number that appears on your phone may not be real as perpetrators can alter caller IDs using computer software. They change the number to make it [appear] more convincing.”

CTM said it is referring the Macau public to the warning issued by the Judiciary Police.

In a separate case, the Judiciary Police also announced yesterday that a Taiwanese resident aged 38 was detained as he was trying to leave Macau via the airport. He is accused of being a member of a phone scam syndicate that committed illegal acts to con the Macau public. Some of these cases are believed to have occurred between July and August 2017. DB