OFWs in Macau warned against lending laptops

The Philippine Consulate General in Macau warned Filipinos in that Chinese territory to be extra careful when allowing others to use their computers to access the Internet, following the Oct. 17 arrest of six Filipinos accused of credit card theft after they had separately lent their laptops to other Filipinos. In a release posted Tuesday on the website of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the consulate said the six were arrested by the Macau Judiciary Police for allegedly purchasing Macau-Hong Kong ferry tickets using stolen credit card numbers. The six suspects, whom the consulate did not identify, were tracked down through their laptops, which police found were used for the purchases that amounted to over HK$300,000 (about P1.6 million). All six, however, maintained that they were innocent. According to the release, the credit card fraud was discovered after Macau banks informed police that some clients had complained that their credit cards were used to purchase tickets without their knowledge. The credit card numbers were reportedly stolen from hotel and shopping center customers. While all six suspects lived in different places and did not know each other, they all said that they had lent their laptops to fellow Filipinos to provide them Internet access in order for them to communicate with families and friends back home. The suspects have since reported the names of those who allegedly borrowed their computers, but these people have been found to have already left Macau. The suspects are implying that the Filipinos who borrowed their laptops were those who stole the credit cards and made illegal purchases with them. Two of the suspects are unemployed and residing illegally in Macau, but the rest were working as chefs or service attendants in hotels. All of the suspects, who are between 23 to 35 years old, were arrested either at their workplaces or at their homes. Those who had been employed were fired from their jobs as soon as their employers found out about their arrest. The suspects are currently in police custody, where they are under investigation. They were arrested together with their housemates, who have since been released.—JV, GMANews.TV