A local man was cheated out of HK$71,000 in an online “click farm scam” last week, in the latest of a series of scams perpetrated in Macao.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei said that the man saw a job advertisement on a social dating app in late July and contacted the advertiser.
“Customer service” then told him to click on a designated link and open an account on the website, Lei said, adding that the fraudsters promised him that he could claim “commissions” of up to 30 per cent, provided that he purchased certain items for the website’s “customers”.
Lei said the man fell for the offer, transferred HK$71,000 to a Hong Kong bank account given by the website and subsequently started “purchasing items”. After six purchases, the “customer service” asked him to “cancel the previous actions” in order to obtain extra “tasks”.
After the man followed the instruction, the “customer service” then claimed that his action was a “mistake” and “upset the customers”, Lei said, adding that the “customer service” asked him to pay HK$16,500 to “make things right”.
The victim finally realised that he had been defrauded and provided details of the loss of HK$71,000 to the police, The Macau Post Daily reported.
