The Judiciary Police (PJ) reminded the public in a statement yesterday to be wary of scam calls impersonating customer service representatives from “Taobao” and “Alipay”.
The statement noted that since Monday, at the time of the press conference, the Judiciary Police had received reports from at least 16 citizens through their anti-fraud hotline and programme. The victims received scam calls from individuals pretending to be customer service representatives of “Taobao” and “Alipay”, with the calls displaying mobile numbers beginning with “+853.”
During the calls, the scammers claimed that the victims’ “funds security insurance” was about to expire and warned that failure to cancel it would result in high charges. They then impersonated customer service representatives from other financial institutions, falsely offering to assist in cancelling the “insurance” to defraud victims of their money.
Among the reported cases, four individuals fell victim to the scams. They followed the scammers’ instructions to transfer funds via MPay or engaged in video calls through messaging or conferencing software while sharing their screens. This led to the leakage of their credit card information, resulting in a total loss of over 47,000 patacas.
The PJ Anti-Fraud Coordination Centre warned the public to be vigilant, emphasising that any calls claiming to be from “Alipay,” “Taobao,” or other “financial institutions” about expiring “funds security insurance” are scams. The statement urged citizens not to comply with requests from unfamiliar individuals to share screens, disclose bank or credit card details, or transfer money. If in doubt, citizens are advised to use the PJ Anti-Fraud Programme to check risk indicators, report suspicious information, or call the PJ anti-fraud hotline on 8800 7777 or the crime-reporting hotline on 993 for assistance.
Local woman loses 26,782 patacas in ‘Taobao’ phone scam: police
A local middle-aged woman has fallen victim to a “Taobao” phone scam, losing 26,782 patacas, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Cheong Siu Keong said during a regular press conference yesterday.
According to Cheong, the victim received a call on Monday from someone claiming to be a “Taobao customer service staff member.” The caller informed her that the trial period for her “Taobao funds security insurance” was about to expire and that a monthly premium would be charged after the expiration. Following the caller’s instructions, she logged into a link provided by the caller and entered her credit card information and security code.
Shortly afterwards, the victim received a verification code message from the bank. The victim immediately contacted the bank and discovered that her credit card had already been used for purchases. Realising she had been scammed, she reported a total loss of 26,782 to the police on Tuesday.
This poster provided by the Judiciary Police (PJ) yesterday warns the public about scam calls impersonating “Taobao” and “Alipay” representatives.
