Hong Kong, Macau police smash cross-border syndicate behind 168 scam cases

Hong Kong and Macau police have cracked down on a cross-border phone scam syndicate that defrauded victims of HK$22 million (US$2.8 million) across 168 cases.

The operation resulted in the arrests of three men and four women in Macau, aged between 27 and 48, who were suspected to be involved in about 160 telephone scams, involving fake customer service and investment fraud.

The arrests were part of a larger cross-border anti-scam operation conducted by Macau and Hong Kong police between May 8 and June 24. The scams targeted residents of both places.

Hong Kong police’s commercial crime bureau also discovered five flats used for scam activities and seized 40 GOIP devices, 24 mobile phones and about 5,000 telephone cards.

GOIP devices are a type of telecoms equipment that can disguise overseas telephone calls as local numbers.

“Investigations revealed that the criminals first transported GOIP devices from Hong Kong to Macau, and then installed them in local residential units by key members to carry out telephone fraud,” the force said.