Police warn about fraudulent WhatsApp website

At least four fraudulent WhatsApp websites are being advertised on Google search for the purposes of swindling people, to which at least two Macau residents have fallen victim, the Judiciary Police (PJ) announced yesterday.

Two local women have fallen victim to the new type of scam, as described by the PJ, and lost a total of MOP5.7 million. They were misled by the Google search results, mistaking the fake websites for the website version of WhatsApp. The fake version had spoofed chat history from their WhatsApp cellphone app and the people behind the scam impersonated friends or relatives of the victims, asking them to make online bank transfers.

According to the PJ, a local victim received a work instruction from her impersonated superintendent, who ordered her to transfer MOP4 million dollars. The other victim was asked by a fake relative to transfer MOP1.7 million. Both believed the chats were real, as they saw the profile pictures depicting the real people.

The PJ discovered that they had both googled WhatsApp web and fallen into the trap set by the fake websites. The PJ suggests that the public use other channels to verify any bank transfer requests.

In another case, a teenage girl and a 20-year-old man were scammed by an online platform while looking for summer jobs. The platform asked them to purchase certain merchandise online but, instead of paying directly to the seller, pay the platform operators instead. They were told that they would be refunded.

The practice was conducted to stage an impression of certain products or sellers being popular.

After several refunded trials, the victims ceased getting their money refunded, and thus approached the police. Both victims have lost about MOP53,000.