TELEPHONE scams have been around for ages.
Despite the many news reports published about the scams to warn the general public, there are still people who get cheated.
Perak Barisan Nasional Public Service and Complaints Centre Chief Mohd Rawi Abdullah said this may be due to the fact there are a variety of telephone scams and they are constantly evolving.
“The most common ones are those offering businesses, personal, home or car loans.
“There are also those who call to say that the would-be victim has won something through some lucky draw or contest,” he told MetroPerak.
“Some of the modern ones include the Macau Scam, whereby scammers uses Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology to replicate the telephone number of genuine institutions, including the police and Bank Negara Malaysia, to cheat people,” he said.
“In the end, their intention is to get our private details like MyKad number, bank account information, and in some cases, siphon money out of your account,” he added.
When asked why people were still getting cheated, Mohd Rawi said there were several reasons.
“Some are just plain oblivious and are not aware of these cases.
“In some cases, greed plays a role while there are also some there are genuinely desperate for money and are willing to take risks,” he said.
Mohd Rawi also said he fears that more people will get scammed as the cost of living rises.
“I think there will be more and more of these cases. Times are still bad.
“There’ll be newer methods to scam people,” he said, adding that the line between the genuine and the fake has been blurred due to the scams.
It was reported recently that one housewife from Bercham was cheated of RM1,288 after receiving a call offering her a personal loan of RM50,000.
The housewife, 23, was said to have wanted to surprise her husband who needed the money to buy a car for his work.
In the incident, the housewife was told by the scammer that she only needed to send photographs of her MyKad and bank account number, while paying the money up front as a “legal fee”.
Earlier this month Penang police crippled a Macau scam syndicate that had duped about 82 victims of an estimated RM2.74mil with the arrest of 50 people in George Town.
Mohd Rawi said he has received plenty of complaints from the public after being scammed.
“I get one or two calls about such issues every month.
“The modus operandi is usually similar. Someone calls offering a big sum as a loan,” he said.
“Those interested should then deposit a ‘fee’ in order to have their application approved,” Mohd Rawi said.
“After that, they’ll be asked to wait. By that time, the scammer would have already changed his contact number,” he added.
Mohd Rawi also said he believes that the scams are hard to resolve.
“I believe the police are working hard to nab these scammers, but information is scarce, thus there’s a limitation.
“It’s also quite hard to locate these unscrupulous people,” he said.
Mohd Rawi said people are advised not be greedy and be careful when receiving calls from strangers.
“At the end of the day, people just need to say no and not accept any offers from strangers.
“If there’s a need to get loans, go straight to the bank,” he said.
Perak MCA Public Service and Complaints Bureau Chief Jimmy Loh also said he has came across a lot of similar cases.
“The cases I came across involved losses of between RM1,000 and RM8,000.
“The victims who approach me are usually those in their 40s. Many of them are also not highly educated,” he said.
“Some are really desperate for money to run their businesses, to pay off debts, or house or car loans,” he added.
Loh said he has heard several complaints about offers of business or car loans that require a 10% to 20% fee being paid upfront.
“Some of the offers are just verbal, which itself is already a warning sign,” he said.
“They should just approach genuine institutions and not accept offers from strangers over the phone,” he added.
Loh said those needing money should first and foremost consult their families or close friends.
“I can understand that getting loan from banks can be difficult. Many of those that I know have tried but were rejected.
“These scammers are taking advantage of this predicament to cheat people,” he said. I urge the people simply not to be taken in by the offers, some which are too good to be true,” he added.
Loh also said methods used to scam people are changing with time.
“They are always coming out with new ways to cheat people.
“The latest method is offering personal loans through Whatsapp chat groups where some 300 random contacts can be included,” he said, adding that this first appeared in May.
“I think they will be use the WeChat messaging app next as it host chat groups with up to 500 participants,” he added.
Loh said some people who come across such scams would exit the group and disregard the offer.
“I was also invited into one of such groups. There were some participants that were asking about the offer,” he said.
As for how scammers obtain victims’ smartphone numbers, Loh said it is a question that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission needs to answer.
“I’m not sure how they get them. Some may have gotten the numbers from a friend’s friend or an acquaintance and learnt about a victim urgently needing money,” he said.
“But it’s really a concern that random phone numbers are made available to the scammers,” he added.
“When you start to get phone calls from random strangers offering you personal loan you need to question where they got the contact number from,” Loh said.
“I think this is a form of privacy invasion. For myself, I am try to be careful about who I give my phone number to,” he added.
Attempts to get comments and advice from the police regarding the issue were unsuccessful as at press time.
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