Macau recorded an increase in ‘online crime’ in 2021 with authorities reporting a growing increase in cybercrime in the last two years.
“Through the analysis of data on crimes recorded between 2019 and 2021, under the influence of the epidemic, in Macau, the practice of crimes, in general, underwent a gradual change, with the majority of the types of crimes that lack traditional contact decreasing, and on the contrary, cyber crimes have been increasing consecutively and rapidly in the last two years”, stressed the Office of the Secretary for Security.
“Computer crime is also a type of crime that has continued to increase over the past two years. 800 crimes were recorded last year, which represents an increase of 50.7 per cent compared to 2020 and an increase of 196.3 per cent from 2019.
The number of scams rose 29.8 per cent when compared to 2020, and dropped 14.3 per cent compared to 2019.
Among these cases, the largest proportion concerns online scams, 40 per cent of the total.
“Phone scams had the biggest increase, with 91 cases registered last year, which represents an increase of 193.5 per cent compared to 2020. Among the ‘online’ scams, the ‘online dating scam’ and in illegal bets” are the most common, authorities indicated.
The authorities also highlighted that between 2019 and 2021 “there were no significant changes in violent crime that seriously harm the security of society”.
