Three Macau residents hit by fake police scam calls
On.cc · 1 SOURCESabout 3 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
Macau law enforcement said it received three reports on September 15 and 16 involving telephone scams in which callers impersonated mainland Chinese public security or judicial officers. The three victims were two middle-aged residents and one young resident, and the cases used similar tactics including false criminal allegations, video calls and screen sharing. Two victims suffered losses totaling MOP483,000, while in the third case officers intervened in time to block a suspicious transfer and prevent any financial loss. Authorities are following up on all three cases
Key Points
- In the first case, a middle-aged Macau man received a noon call on September 15 from someone claiming to be Wuhan police
- The fraudster accurately recited the man’s personal details and alleged his mainland phone number had been used to send scam messages
- During a video call, the caller appeared in police uniform, showed a fake arrest warrant, and persuaded the victim to enable screen sharing
- The anti-fraud coordination centre later contacted the man proactively; investigators found MOP413,000 had been transferred from his bank account
- A middle-aged woman transferred MOP70,000, while a young woman’s suspicious HK$20,000 transfer was intercepted and her account frozen
Why It Matters
The cases show how scammers are combining personal data, fake legal threats and live video tactics to pressure victims into immediate compliance. For Hong Kong and Macau readers, the report is a reminder that unsolicited claims by supposed mainland enforcement officers should be independently verified before any transfer, screen sharing or disclosure of banking information