Woman loses MOP51,000 in online shopping scam

Authorities are warning residents about a growing trend of online shopping scams after a local woman reported losing MOP 51,000 in a suspected impersonation scheme.

According to the Public Security Police (PSP), the incident occurred last Wednesday (Feb. 4) when a middle-aged woman received a phone call from someone claiming to be a Taobao customer service representative.

The caller falsely told her that her “payment security protection plan” was about to expire and that she would be charged MOP800 per month unless she canceled it.

Believing the call to be legitimate, the woman initially transferred around MOP250, which the scammers promptly “refunded.” The perpetrators then instructed her to conduct a screen-sharing session, citing “fund verification” and additional refund procedures. Following their instructions, she transferred MOP 51,000 but never received the promised refund.

The victim later realized she had likely fallen prey to a scam and reported the case to authorities.

Police are urging residents to exercise caution when receiving unsolicited calls or messages claiming to be from online platforms.

In a separate case, the Judiciary Police (PJ) uncovered a case where a jewelry store from a casino in Cotai was allegedly involved in illegal currency exchange worth HKD40 million for gamblers.

Earlier this week, the PJ reported that the store is suspected of engaging in illegal currency exchange since April last year.

A local female sales employee, a 36-year-old surnamed Chou was arrested, and HKD95,400 in cash was seized for investigation.

The PJ investigated the jewelry store inside the Cotai casino, where they found out Chou used her mobile phone and scanned a QR code shown to her by a middle-aged mainland Chinese male gambler and then was handed cash. The gambler subsequently proceeded to gamble in the casino.

The PJ took both individuals in for questioning and it was discovered that on that day, an amount of RMB1,726 was exchanged for HKD1,800 for gambling purposes.

It is suspected that the jewelry store has conducted illegal currency exchange involving nearly HKD40 million since it started operations in April last year, allegedly making an illegal profit of RMB1.35 million from these activities.

The PJ seized HKD95,400 in cash found in the store, along with one laptop and three mobile phones, for further investigation.

Authorities are continuing to pursue the whereabouts of the store owner involved in the case.

The case has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office for further investigation under the charge of “operating an illegal money exchange service for gambling purposes”. Ricaela Diputado