KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign students, especially those from China, are still falling victim to smooth-talking scammers offering fake home rentals in the Klang Valley.
Just last week, three Chinese students who lost between RM800 and RM6,000 to a syndicate running the scam have sought help from MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong.
Chong, who held a press conference yesterday, said the scammer posed as an agent from a reputable real estate company and used the credentials and photo of a legitimate real estate negotiator before advertising the properties online.
However, what the students did not know was that the fraudster had shown them furnished apartments that he had rented for a day through Airbnb.
Chong said after making arrangements for the students to view the units, the scammer would send an accomplice to meet them instead.
“He would claim he was busy and send a non-Mandarin-speaking local to attend to the victims.
“We believe this was to prevent proper communication or limit detailed questioning between the victims and the accomplice.
“Then the falsified paperwork carrying the names of legitimate property agents would be produced to hoodwink the students into placing their deposits using a QR code linked to a popular payment platform.
“Once the funds went through, the scammer became unreachable. What puzzles us is how the scammer managed to register a wallet name strikingly similar to that of a genuine property agency with the payment platform, even though checks show it is not registered,” he said.
Chong said the victims only realised they had been fleeced when they attempted to move into the units they had viewed earlier and contacted the real property agency whose name had been misused. He suspects that there are many more who have fallen victim and urged them to come forward and lodge police reports.
Glory Lands & Property principal and founder Leslie Low said he was taken aback when he received several calls from foreign students who had been cheated.
“The fraudster had registered his payment wallet as Glory Lands and Property, which, except for the ‘and’ that is a symbol in our company name, is almost identical,” he told a press conference.
Apart from the victims, Low and a real estate negotiator have also lodged police reports.
The department’s legal adviser James Ee advised foreign students to verify the credentials of property agents and the authenticity of tenancy agreements.
“It is frustrating to be cheated like this, but I hope foreign students are not disheartened as there are many genuine real estate agents who can assist them in securing rental units.
“We advise foreign students to avoid wiring payments and instead make transactions directly with property agencies. This will prevent them from getting scammed,” he said.
