Phone fraud doubles amid low awareness: PJ

The number of new phone fraud cases opened by the Judiciary Police (PJ) has doubled in the first two months of 2024 compared to the same period last year, according to the Anti-Fraud Coordination Center of PJ.

Residents suffered MOP320 million in losses to telecom fraud in 2023, according to the PJ spokesman. Common scams involve fraudsters posing as law enforcement or investment professionals, tricking victims into transferring money.

While scams significantly increased last year, the PJ noted that the situation is getting worse. New phone scams registered by the police jumped 100% and new internet scams rose over 73% in January and February. Scammers are now using more complex tactics, such as telling victims they are involved in an international criminal case and must travel to Southeast Asia.

“In some cases, scammers aim to get the victim to leave Macau and go into hiding. They then instruct the victim to contact their family and report a fake kidnapping,” Cheong Un Hong of the PJ’s anti-fraud center said during a TDM radio talk show yesterday. 

Police figures show continued low fraud awareness in the community. The public is urged to use the police’s WeChat anti-fraud app to identify scammers. On average, the search engine sees 1,700 weekly uses, with 180 returning medium-high risk results. About 60 fraud reports are filed weekly.

Among the most common tactics used by fraudsters is through posing as law enforcement officials and asking victims to transfer their money to certain accounts for “verification,” or posing as investment professionals and persuading victims to deposit money into so-called investment accounts.

The PJ stresses that knowing personal details does not mean the caller is a real officer. They urged residents to verify suspicious situations with police. Staff Reporter