The Judiciary Police (PJ) received a notice from the National Anti-Fraud Centre yesterday about a new scam tactic targeting online shoppers, urging members of the public in a statement to be vigilant against online shopping scams.
The statement noted that the scammers first set up shops on reputable official e-commerce platforms and then intentionally deliver wrong or substandard goods during transactions, prompting customers to contact customer service for after-sales support.
Under the guise of offering “fake compensation”, the fraudsters lure victims into communicating through third-party messaging apps to avoid platform supervision, with the criminal intent of carrying out various forms of telecom and online scams.
The statement pointed out that while no such cases have been reported in Macau yet, the PJ Information Technology Crimes Division Anti-Fraud Coordination Centre urges residents to never deviate from official platforms for communication purposes during online transactions.
Moreover, the Judiciary Police urged netizens to refrain from downloading or installing unverified mobile applications, in order to prevent exposure of sensitive information, such as bank account or credit card details, and to use the PJ’s Anti-Fraud Programme to check the risk index, or report information when in doubt, the statement said.
One can also call the anti-fraud enquiry hotline on 8800 7777 or the crime report hotline on 993 for assistance.
This poster provided by the Judiciary Police (PJ) on Saturday warns members of the public of the new “fake compensation” online shopping scam.
