A local male university student has fallen victim to a “fake police” scam, losing 204,000 patacas, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Wai Lok said during a regular press conference yesterday.
According to Ho, a local student received a call last Tuesday from someone claiming to be a “mainland police officer.” The caller claimed that the student’s mainland-registered phone number had been sending out a large number of scam messages. The “police officer” explicitly mentioned the student’s name and personal information, requesting his cooperation.
The student was then transferred to another caller claiming to be a “task force officer,” who instructed him to download a communication app and required him to report his whereabouts daily. Between May 21 and 23, the student followed the instructions, enabling screen sharing while entering his bank account details as directed.
By Friday, the victim realised he could no longer log into his online banking account. He discovered that 108,000 patacas and HK$93,500 (96,500 patacas) had been transferred from his account. It was only then that he realised he had been defrauded and reported the total loss of 204,000 patacas to the police on Monday afternoon.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Wai Lok looks on during yesterday’s regular press conference. – Photo: Ada Lei
