PETALING JAYA: Victims seldom take legal action against fraudulent “money games” operators because many of them were brought into the scheme by their friends and family members, said litigation lawyer Muhammad Akram Abdul Aziz.
He said it was natural for agents of these schemes to get their friends and family members to join.
“Pyramid and ponzi schemes work by getting more ‘downlines’ to join, and the easiest way is getting people you already know to participate,” he said.
Akram guest-starred in the live talk show The Couch yesterday about get-rich-quick schemes on R.AGE’s Facebook page http://facebook.com/thestarRAGE.
R.AGE has also set up a poll during the talk show to ask if people would report their friends and family members if they were part of an investment scam, and 60% of respondents said they would not.
Many victims also choose not take legal action because they are unwilling to spend more money, added Akram.
“Victims who are scammed generally have lost money, and they become reluctant to pursue the case when they learn they have to fork out more to initiate legal action,” he said.
But he urged victims to furnish details and documents about the investments involved to authorities in order to give them a head start for investigation.
R.AGE's weekly talk show The Couch goes live every Friday at 4pm on http://facebook.com/thestarRAGE.
