Macau police bust more bogus UnionPay point-of-sale terminals

Macau authorities continue to crack down on the unauthorized use of China UnionPay bank cards to facilitate bogus cash transactions.

On Friday, Macau Judiciary Police (JP) announced the arrests of 23 individuals following investigations of 13 retail shops. In eight of these shops, police seized UnionPay terminals that had been modified to process transactions as if they were occurring on the Chinese mainland.

Mark Sou Sio Keong, the JP’s head of IT crimes, said police had found a local workshop in which the UnionPay terminals were being modified, after which they were sold to other local shops. Sou said police had also seized HKD 7.5m ($967k) in cash during their investigation.

A police spokesman told GGRAsia that the terminals had been modified for “gaming purposes.” The shops in question were registered as jewelry or electronic equipment sales outlets but the spokesman said they were suspected of conducting “pawnshop-like” business.