The Secretary for Security, Mr Wong Sio Chak, today stated that social order in Macao is stable overall. Incidences recorded in 2024 of respectively serious violent crime, drug-related crime, gambling-related crime, theft, robbery, and crimes that affected people’s livelihoods, were still significantly lower compared to 2019.

Secretary Wong made the remarks at a press briefing to announce the 2024 full-year crime figures and enforcement statistics.

In 2024, the police initiated 14,298 criminal case investigations, a year-on-year increase of 811 cases, or 6.0 percent; and an increase of 120 cases, or a 0.8-percent rise, compared to 2019.

Mr Wong said the overall crime numbers in Macao in 2024 saw increases compared to 2023 and 2019, mainly due to an ongoing rise in fraud and computer crime.

In addition, Law No. 20/2024, the “Law to Combat Crimes of Illegal Gambling”, which came into effect at the end of October 2024, introduced the new crime of “illegal money changing for gambling”. The police have initiated a total of 89 cases under this provision.

In 2024, there was a total of 355 telephone fraud cases, a decrease of 57 cases from 2023, but still an increase of 235 cases compared to 2019. Cases involving “impersonating government officials” accounted for nearly 70 percent of the aggregate, remaining the most common telephone-fraud scamming method.

There was a total of 932 Internet-related fraud cases recorded across 2024, an increase of 38 cases from 2023 and up by 618 cases compared with 2019. Major methods included online investment fraud (“pig butchering”), ticket sale scams, and online shopping fraud.

A total of 777 computer fraud cases was reported in 2024; 689 of which involved online credit card transactions. A total of 86 cases concerned "online sextortion", more than in 2019, but 62 cases fewer than in 2023, i.e., a year-on-year decrease of 41.9 percent.

The Secretary issued a reminder that while the number of telephone fraud cases in 2024 saw a decrease from 2023, there was an increase in cases related to “order scamming”. In 2024, a total of 40 cases involving “order scamming” was opened by the police, a rise of 2.1 times from the 13 cases in 2023. These cases involved 41 victims, so the situation necessitates increased vigilance from all sectors of society, said Mr Wong.

In addition, the Macao security authorities and the Ministry of Public Security on the mainland signed in 2023 the minutes of the meeting between a delegation of public security agencies from the mainland and a delegation of the Macao police on cooperation in combating and preventing fraud crimes using telecommunications and the Internet. From September 2023 to December 2024, based on notifications from the Macao police, the mainland police froze 546 bank accounts on the mainland related to 72 cases of suspected fraud in Macao. These actions blocked the transfer of 11.62 million renminbi in fraudulent funds, and these were being returned to the victims following the procedures.

The police would continue to deepen their prevention, recovery, and suppression effort, working tirelessly to curb the crime of fraud, said Mr Wong.

Regarding the assessment of the current situation regarding the Macao gaming industry’s impact on the public security situation, Mr Wong said though the total number of crimes related to gaming in 2024 saw a year-on-year increase, under the preventive and suppressive measures targeted by the police force, the 2024 number was still significantly lower than the number in 2019. It indicated the security risks spawned by the industry were preventable and controllable.

The security authorities would continue to monitor closely the changing trends of crimes related to gaming, and continuously strengthen and optimise preventive and suppressive work, adjusting law enforcement arrangements as appropriate, to ensure the stability and prosperity of Macao society.