Recently, the Judiciary Police (PJ) discovered multiple Facebook pages that faked the pages of local department stores, gambling corporations, and watch retailers in Macao. The pages above falsely claimed that the stores were conducting promotional campaigns that offered limited edition designer handbags and luxury watches at meager prices. These fraudulent pages also used "sponsored" advertisements to proactively push these posts to Facebook users, luring them to click on the ads and place orders through the links. As the prices of the goods offered were far below market value, the products' authenticity is questionable, and there is also a risk that personal information may be extracted for illicit purposes.
The I.T. Crimes Division Anti-Fraud Coordination Centre of the Macao Judiciary Police thus urges residents to:
1. Take a closer look at the "sponsored" advertisements pushed by online social platforms. Scammers may use fake accounts to purchase ads and commit fraud.
2. To prevent online shopping scams, avoid falling for deals that seem too good to be true.
3. When in doubt, use the Macao Judiciary Police's "Anti-Fraud Program" to check the risk index or report information, or call the Macao Judiciary Police's anti-fraud enquiry hotline at 88007777 or the crime report hotline at 993 for assistance.
