Reported extortion cases related to online nude chat rooms rose 61.5 per cent in the first nine months year-on-year, Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak said yesterday.
Wong revealed the figure during a press conference about the city’s crime figures in the first three quarters.
According to the press conference, the number of reported online nude chat extortions rose from 26 cases in the first nine months of last year to 42 cases in the same period this year, up 61.5 per cent.
Wong urged residents to stay alert when using messaging apps and social network services.
The number of reported scams and frauds fell 36.2 per cent, according to Wong. A total of 20 phone scams and 128 computer fraud cases were reported in the nine-month period, down 86.8 and 53.7 per cent year-on-year respectively
According to police statistics, the total number of crimes reported in the first three quarters reached 10,826, up 4.6 per cent year-on-year.
According to the crime figures, there was a rise in gaming-related criminal activities such as loansharking and false imprisonment.
A total of 348 loansharking cases were recorded, up 45 per cent. The number of false imprisonment cases recorded by the police rose to 349, up 13.3 per cent.
The total number of violent crimes rose 8.4 per cent to 608.
Wong said although the growth in gaming-related crimes slowed down in the first nine months, the police would stay alert.
(Macau News / The Macau Post Daily)
