There has been a visible rise in fraudulent social media pages advertising renovation and building services in Macau. The pattern is consistent: stolen photographs of genuine completed projects, an implausibly low price, and a payment route that ultimately leads nowhere useful. This guide sets out a verification routine that is short, entirely free, and effective.
Step 1 — Ask for the identity documents, in writing
Before discussing price, ask the company for its full registered name in Chinese and Portuguese, its commercial registration number, and its DSSCU registration number. A company that cannot produce these three items should not be considered further. Ask in writing — a message or email — so there is a record of what was provided.
Step 2 — Verify independently on the government register
Do not accept the company's own claim. Go to the Land and Public Works Transport Bureau website and use the Registered Contractor Query System. Enter the registration number or company name and check:
- Whether the company appears in the register at all
- The category of registration — for example construction contractor, building contractor or professional engineering company — and whether it covers the scope of your works
- Whether the registration is currently valid
- Whether any complaint or violation records are shown
For our own projects, our registration is No. 7003/2024 with certificate No. 1648/DIP/2025, registered for the execution of works, valid 2026–2027. We encourage any prospective client to confirm this directly on the official register before signing.
Step 3 — Sign a written contract, face to face, with the company seal
A contract exchanged only through private messages on a social platform is not acceptable, no matter how friendly the conversation is. The contract should set out, at minimum:
- The scope of works
- Itemised materials, brands and specifications
- The programme and duration
- The total cost
- The staged payment schedule
- The company's registered name and registration numbers
It should be signed by the company and stamped with the company seal. Accounts that are simply an individual's name, with no physical premises and no business registration, warrant particular caution — and no residential address or personal data should be shared through them.
Step 4 — Verify the payment route
For payments, use the official banking application directly and confirm the receiving account name matches the registered company name exactly. No legitimate contractor will ask for your full banking login, your password, a one-time verification code, or payment through an unfamiliar link or QR code. If a QR code is presented, treat it as a phishing attempt until proven otherwise.
Two further warning signs
Unsolicited large material deposits. A request for a substantial upfront payment before any work begins — particularly one triggered by a link or code — is the signature of the common fraud pattern. Where staged payments are appropriate, they should follow documented milestones.
Work that stops and the company disappears. A recurring pattern in reported Macau cases is that a fraudster takes a deposit, sends someone to measure, then repeatedly requests additional sums on invented pretexts until the project is abandoned and the company becomes unreachable. A registered contractor with local premises and a stated place of business does not behave this way.
Why this matters more in Macau than elsewhere
The local regulatory environment already provides the tools to prevent these losses. A three-tier licensing regime for construction work, a public register of registered contractors, and a formal process for prior notification and works licences all exist and are enforced — DSSCU recorded more than 2,000 complaints in 2025 with illegal works accounting for around 80% of engineering complaints. The gap is rarely a regulatory one. It is a verification gap: a buyer who did not spend ten minutes checking a register.
Ten minutes of checking is inexpensive against the cost of a renovation deposit, a project stalled halfway, and a unit left in a state that is difficult to resell or let. We would always rather be verified than believed.