The Judiciary Police received a report from a resident yesterday (25th), who reportedly had received an unsolicited phone call with a call prefix “+853” from someone claiming to be a COVID-19 nucleic acid testing staff member. The caller pointed out the insufficient test registration data of the victim and asked for personal identity information. The victim thought the telephone number was suspicious, suspecting that the caller impersonated government quarantine personnel to commit fraud, therefore refused to provide the information and immediately hanged up.

Last month, the Judiciary Police issued a police information circular to remind members of the public to guard against fraudulent phone calls impersonating government departments. Yesterday, a telephone fraud of similar modus operandi was again reported, indicating that unruly elements are trying to defraud the residents by taking advantage of the pandemic or people’s livelihood issues of recent concern to commit fraud. A few years ago, fraud cases involving impersonation of government entity personnel had caused huge losses, the Judiciary Police once again calls on the public to stay vigilant against fraud and avoid being taken advantage by the unruly elements.

Anti-fraud reminders:

1. Be alert when receiving phone calls from unknown numbers. Do not trust strangers with any claims about who they are and what they do, but check and verify through reliable channels;
2. Do not trust the caller ID numbers. Fraudsters can use software to forge the caller ID to make the public mistakenly believe that the call is being placed by the purported authority;
3. Do not disclose personal information, transfer money or remit money to strangers;
4. Share anti-fraud information and remind relatives and friends around you to be cautious against being defrauded;
5. If fraud or other crimes are suspected, you should immediately call the Anti-scam Hotline 8800 7777 or the Crime Report Hotline 993 of the Judiciary Police for help.