Be wary of third-party links to Padu, says Perak exco man

Photo: Ronnie Chin/The Star

IPOH: The people are advised to be alert when receiving links from third parties that supposedly take them to the Central Database Hub (Padu).

Perak communications and multimedia committee chairman Mohd Azlan Helmi said whenever the government announces aid or new initiatives, scammers will take the opportunity to try and cheat people.

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To date, however, he said there have been no reports in Perak of people getting scammed through unauthorised links while registering for Padu.

“Please do not click on unknown links and if you are not sure how to go about the registration process, please visit the 70-plus Digital Economy Centres (PEDi) in Perak.

“Do not easily believe individuals who send links on your mobile phones, especially those (forwarded) messages.

“If there are issues, always verify with the nearest PEDi or related government agency," he said after visiting the Kampung Tersusun Batu 8 PEDi in Tambun on Friday (Jan 5).

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He said this PEDi was his first stop as it was in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s constituency and he was there to get a briefing on the latest updates on the registration process.

Mohd Azlan said that as of Thursday (Jan 4), a total of 45,655 Perakians have updated their data on Padu.

However, he urged the people not to wait until the cut-off date of March 31 approaches before updating their data.

“We are worried that as the closing date approaches, there might be congestion... which can cause difficulties.

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“Please update your data as soon as possible as the PEDi centres are operating seven days a week, and take this opportunity to get help from the officers there," he added.

Mohd Azlan said he would also be meeting all the assemblymen in the state to update them on the registration process, so that they can pass the message on to their constituents.

“There are some 1.8 million Perakians eligible to update their data, and we hope everyone will do the necessary.

“The state government is taking efforts to ensure that the message is disseminated to people (everyone),” he added.

Padu was launched by the Prime Minister on Tuesday (Jan 2) to ensure the distribution of aid and subsidies is efficient and reaches the target groups.

Anwar also said Padu would stop leakages in government assistance.