Datuk Seri Michael Chong chaired a press conference regarding a case involving a watch owner, known as Miss Lee, who was allegedly cheated. Accompanying him was lawyer James Ee. — LOW BOON TAT/The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: What was supposed to be a profitable sale turned ugly for a 31-year-old woman who sold her Rolex watch.
It all started when the woman, who only wants to be known as Lee, listed the limited edition luxury watch, Rolex Daytona 126519LN, on social media platforms.
However, the buyer who was supposed to pay for the watch via bank transfer instead paid for the watch with a cheque which later bounced.
The buyer, who claimed to be “Raymond”, had agreed to buy the watch for RM203,000.
They arranged to meet up at a shopping mall on March 3, however, Lee was told that “Raymond” was busy, and instead his “employee” will come on his behalf.
Upon meeting, the employee relayed to “Raymond” that the watch was in good condition and the sale was agreed.
“Then ‘Raymond’ texted me saying that he will do the instant transfer and later sent me two bank slips that looked real,” she said at a press conference at Wisma MCA here yesterday.
She then checked her online banking app to verify the payment and then only handed the watch, when she saw the money on her bank balance.
Later she rechecked her account and realised that the amounts transferred were labelled under “current balance”, and not “available balance”.
“I sensed something wrong and called the bank’s fraud team,” she said.
She was told that the amount banked in was from a cheque, at around 5pm earlier that day.
She said that since the cheque bounced, the money disappeared from her account after a couple of days.
“The scammer had asked for my bank details before we met and I suspect he had banked in the cheque earlier so that the sum would reflect in my balance,” she said.
After realising that she had been scammed, she tried to call “Raymond”, but was unable to reach him, and the number was no longer contactable.
Lee later lodged a police report on March 3.
She said she checked social media and found that there were similar cases involving the sale of luxury watches.
MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong said he is optimistic that the case can be solved as there is photo evidence of the employee of “Raymond”.
He said the department has received 12 cases of online purchase scams over the last three years, with the total scam amount over RM7mil.
The highest amount out of these 12 cases is RM350,000, he added.
