A female university student from the Chinese mainland has fallen victim to a “fake police” scam, resulting in a total loss of 3 million yuan (3.37 million patacas), Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Wai Lok said during a regular press conference yesterday.
According to Ho, the police received a report on Tuesday from the victim, who said that she had received a call on August 11 while in Macau. The caller claimed to be a “staff member from the Chinese mainland’s immigration department” and accused her of sending a large number of fraudulent messages using her mainland phone number, requesting her cooperation in the investigation.
Ho noted that the caller requested that she ask her parents for money under the pretext of “paying a study abroad deposit.” By August 30, her family had transferred 3 million yuan to her mainland bank account. After receiving the funds, between September 9 and November 12, she repeatedly transferred money as instructed by the scammer to multiple designated mainland bank accounts, totalling 3 million yuan.
On November 17, the victim came across news reports related to similar scams. Suspecting she had been defrauded, she reported a total loss of 3 million yuan to the police on Tuesday.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Wai Lok looks on during yesterday’s regular press conference. – Photo: Ada Lei
