Recently members of the public received calls from unknown people who claimed that the people receiving the calls had been tested positive in the NAT and their respective health codes were about to be changed to "yellow codes". The callers requested the people receiving the calls to provide personal information for identity verification so that they could be sent to the makeshift hospital for isolation later.
The Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre (hereinafter referred to as “the Centre”) states that in response to the recent re-emergence of the epidemic in Macao, the Health Bureau will contact the person with a positive test result according to the registered personal information and will take the initiative to state the identity information for verification, instead of requesting the person to provide personal information for identity verification. The public are required to note that the information stated by the Health Bureau for verification is the information registered in the Government database, it may not be up-to-date, but it should not be completely wrong. And members of the public will not be asked to provide money-related information for verification.
The Centre urges the public (to remind the elderly at home especially) to be vigilant against fraudulent calls and take note of the precautionary measures of the Judiciary Police. If one receives a similar call, especially when the caller asks for personal information such as address, identity card number and bank account number, one should be vigilant and hang up immediately to avoid losses. The recommended precautionary measures are as follows:
- Pay more attention to the anti-crime information of the police and raise awareness of personal prevention.
- Consult the latest information on epidemic prevention from official channels, or call the hotline of the Centre at 2870 0800 for enquiries.
- Be vigilant when receiving phone calls from unknown people. Verify through reliable channels and do not trust any identities or matters claimed by strangers.
- Do not totally rely on the caller ID number shown as lawbreakers can forge the caller ID number through software to mislead the public into thinking that the call was made by the purported authority.
- Do not disclose personal information, make transfers or remit money to strangers.
- Share anti-fraud information and remind relatives and friends to beware of being cheated.
- If one suspects fraud or other crimes, one should immediately call the Anti-Fraud Hotline of Judiciary Police at 8800 7777 or the Crime Reporting Hotline at 993 for assistance.