The Judiciary Police (PJ) yesterday held an anti-fraud-themed footrace for the first time, with the aim of consolidating residents’ awareness – university students in particular – of preventing themselves from falling victim to fraud – fake police scams in particular.
Delivering a speech before the race began, PJ Director Sit Chong Meng pledged the police’s commitment to a more targeted approach to anti-fraud education campaigns so as to strengthen university students’ ability to stay alert to ever-changing fraudulent tactics.
Speaking to reporters after the race, Sit said that the Judiciary Police’s anti-fraud mini-programme on WeChat will add a new function next year to help residents identify fake images, audio, and videos created by deepfake AI technology.
The footrace, which also included a game-booth carnival, was held on the University of Macau’s (UM) campus yesterday morning.
The running event comprised a 5-km race and a 2-km fun run, drawing participation from 600 residents, including university students and teachers.
Top security officials Secretary for Security Chan Tsz King, Customs General Director Adriano Marques Ho, and PJ Director Sit Chong Meng joined the 2-km fun run.
The fun run was also joined by officials from several other public entities involved in the government’s anti-fraud initiative, and representatives from higher education institutions, banks, and gaming operators cooperating with the government’s anti-fraud campaign.
In addition to PJ officers, the event was also joined by police officers from Hong Kong and Hengqin.
Delivering his speech before the race started, Sit noted that in recent years, phone scams and online fraud have been on the rise globally. In particular, scams where fraudsters impersonate police or judicial authorities often deal a devastating emotional and financial blow to defrauded students and their families.
Sit noted that to implement the strategy of tackling fraud through early prevention with a focus on youth, the Judiciary Police, in collaboration with the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ), launched the “Campus Anti-Fraud Vaccination Programme” in 2024.
Phone & online fraud falls 40 pct in Jan-Sept
Sit said that through close cooperation between the police and higher education institutions, the programme has entered its third year with fruitful results. In the first three quarters of this year, the combined number of phone scams and online fraud in Macau continued their downward trend, falling around 40 per cent year-on-year. Notably, the number of scammed university students dropped 60 per cent year-on-year. These figures clearly demonstrate that large-scale, continuous public education on fraud prevention has built a solid immune barrier for the public, particularly for university students, Sit said.
Sit underlined that despite the achievements in bringing down the number of defrauded students, the police have by no means let their guard down. As scammers continue to create new fraudulent tactics – such as using AI technology and deep psychological manipulation – new types of scams have become highly deceptive, leading to some young people still falling victim, he said.
Sit said that the phenomenon demonstrates that anti-fraud information “cannot just be disseminated to residents’ eyes and ears”. Instead, he said, anti-fraud campaigns must be conducted in a way that ensures residents gain a genuine understanding of the information. Consequently, Sit said, anti-fraud education campaigns must shift from broad coverage to a precise and targeted approach, turning post-incident remedies into proactive, pre-emptive measures.
To this end, Sit said, the Judiciary Police have strengthened their collaboration with telecom operators since earlier this year. By leveraging AI and big data technologies, they will proactively screen for potential scams to intervene at an early or even pre-incident stage, Sit said, adding that the new measure has proven effective in fraud prevention. Since then, the PJ Anti-Fraud Coordination Centre has detected numerous early-stage fraud cases involving university students, he said.
Moreover, Sit said that the Judiciary Police decided to organise an anti-fraud running race for the first time with the aim of fostering a strong anti-fraud atmosphere across university campuses, enhancing fraud awareness among students, especially freshers.
Sit said that both the Hong Kong and Hengqin police forces joining the local event highlighted the three regions’ firm determination to prevent and combat fraud together.
In addition to the Judiciary Police’s anti-fraud mascot “Anti-Fraud Genie” (防騙小精靈), the Hong Kong Police Force’s anti-fraud mascot “The Little Grape” (提子) and the Hengqin Public Security Bureau’s anti-fraud mascot “Police Little Bear” (警察小熊) also joined yesterday’s event on the UM campus.
Speaking to reporters after the race, Sit noted that the combined number of phone scams and online fraud recorded in the first three quarters of this year stood at 385, a year-on-year decrease of around 40 per cent. The total losses resulting from these cases amounted to 200 million patacas, a year-on-year decrease of 6.7 per cent.
No students scammed since Sept
In the first three quarters of this year, Sit said, 17 victims of phone scams and online fraud combined were university students. Nevertheless, no students have been defrauded since the beginning of September, Sit said, adding this has demonstrated the effectiveness of the “Campus Anti-Fraud Vaccination Programme”.
Sit also said that the PJ anti-fraud mini-programme on WeChat will add a new function next year to help residents identify fake images, audio, and videos created by deepfake AI technology.
After the new function is launched, smartphone users can upload suspicious photos or videos onto the anti-fraud mini-programme to check their genuineness.
Participants start their race outside the UM Library yesterday as Security Chan Tsz King blows the air horn. – Photos: Tony Wong
Judiciary Police (PJ) Director Sit Chong Meng delivers a speech yesterday before the race began.
