Police record surge in phone scams targeting residents

The Judiciary Police (PJ) have reported nine cases of local residents falling victim to a scam impersonating Taobao customer service, resulting in combined losses of MOP1.11 million. Individual losses ranged from MOP20,000 to MOP600,000.

According to PJ, the victims recently received calls or messages claiming that their “cross-border insurance plan” was about to expire.

They were instructed to enable screen-sharing on their phones and provide bank account details to cancel the supposed monthly charges. Following these instructions, the victims transferred money to the scammers, only to later discover they had lost contact with the perpetrators or were alerted by their banks, prompting them to report the fraud.

In a separate case, PJ received a report from a middle-aged Macau woman who was targeted through a similar scam.

The perpetrator impersonated a Douyin customer service agent, instructing her to provide account information and transfer funds to cancel a live-stream membership. The woman reported a loss of MOP52,000.

Authorities are urging residents to exercise caution when receiving unsolicited calls or messages requesting personal or banking information. They advise verifying the identity of the caller independently and never providing credentials or authorizing transfers to unknown parties.