Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Cheong Un Hong announced at a special press conference on Friday that PJ officers, in cooperation with their Hong Kong counterparts, busted nine phone scam dens between April and this month.
The special press conference was held at the PJ headquarters in Zape.
Cheong said that between April and June, the Judiciary Police and the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) conducted three joint operations targeting cross-border telecom fraud. They busted nine telecom fraud dens across both special administrative regions, during which 68 GoIP devices*, 24 mobile phones, over 5,000 SIM cards, and a number of routers and surveillance cameras were seized, involving 168 victims that incurred losses totalling 22 million patacas.
Cheong said that the nine dens in Macau and Hong Kong were believed to have been operated by the syndicate.
Police nab 2 Malaysian, Indonesian suspects
PJ IT Crimes Division Supervisor Lao Kuok Cheong said that in the latest joint operations, on June 22 and 24, PJ officers busted 2 phone scam dens in the northern district and San Kio district, respectively, and confiscated 12 GoIP devices.
Cheong identified the three suspects as a 30-year-old male surnamed Ng from Malaysia who told police that he works as a petrol station manager in Macau, a 27-year-old male surnamed Lim also from Malaysia who claimed to be unemployed, and a 34-year-old female surnamed Se from Indonesia who works as a domestic helper in Macau. Cheong said that the three suspects were caught at the local airport, in the northern district and in San Kio, without revealing further details.
Lao said that Ng and Lim were paid 8,000 and 3,500 Malaysian ringgit (15,285 patacas and 6,690 patacas), respectively, to set up the phone scam dens in rental units in the northern and San Kio districts. Se received the fraudulently obtained money through three personal bank accounts, Lao said.
Lao said that the two male suspects face charges of fraud, operating simulated mobile telecommunications stations using computer devices, and organised crime. The female suspect faces charges of fraud, money laundering involving particularly large sums of money, and organised crime.
All three suspects have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for further investigation.
* GoIP (GSM over IP) devices are hybrid communication tools that bridge traditional GSM (cellular) networks with VoIP (Voice over IP) technology. – DeepSeek
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Cheong Un Hong (right), IT Crimes Division Supervisor Lao Kuok Cheong (centre), and an unnamed senior officer look on during Friday’s special press conference, as evidence seized from two local phone scam dens run by two suspects from Malaysia and another one from Indonesia is displayed. – Photo: Maria Cheang Ut Meng
