JOHOR BARU: A Johor business was cheated of RM180,000 after falling for a scammer impersonating Foon Yew High School staff and placing bogus orders purportedly for school supplies.
The Chinese independent school’s chairman Tong Sing Chuan said scammers have been using its name and even fake name cards of a non-existent staff member to deceive suppliers across several industries.
“Police alerted us about the latest case, which happened about two weeks ago, where the scammer called the supplier and placed orders for items such as hardware, furniture, gas cylinders and catering supplies.
“Posing as a Foon Yew representative, the scammer claimed to act on the principal’s or the vice-principal’s instructions and also asked the business to make payments on the school’s behalf to a third-party bank account,” he said when contacted.
Tong said the affected business suffered a heavy blow due to the large sum involved, prompting the school to go public with the warning.
The case also involved the unauthorised use of real staff names to boost credibility, he said, adding that the scammer also made fake e-name cards bearing the school’s name and logo to convince potential victims.
Tong urged the public, especially suppliers, to stay vigilant and not rely solely on phone calls when receiving procurement-related requests. He also revealed that this was not an isolated incident, adding that at least 10 cases this year involved scammers successfully using the school’s name to cheat generous Malaysians.
Tong added that Foon Yew High School has a strict procurement process, whereby orders exceeding RM3,000 require three quotations and an interview to verify specifications and quality before any award letter is issued.
In SHAH ALAM, police have busted an online fraud syndicate involving lucky draws and forex through two separate raids on two three-storey terrace houses that were used as call centres in Sunsuria City, Sepang, on Nov 26, Bernama reported.
Selangor police chief Comm Datuk Shazeli Kahar said the first raid involved an online lucky draw fraud syndicate and saw 14 foreigners arrested.
He said the second raid in the same area involved an online forex fraud syndicate with the arrest of 10 foreigners.
“Initial investigations found that both cases were different syndicates targeting Chinese nationals as victims. It is believed that they entered Malaysia through the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in June using social visit passes and work passes.
“Checks are also being made with the Malaysian Immigration Department (JIM) to confirm the authenticity of their documents,” he said at the Selangor Commercial Crime Investigation Department’s press conference here yesterday.
Shazeli said that the scams used the “QQ (Jin Chan)” application as an e-advertising platform to induce the victim to buy lucky numbers that promised cash prizes, which did not exist, and also the “Tonghuasun” app before using Telegram for transactions, with the victim being promised high profit returns in a non-existent investment.
The case is being investigated under Section 420 and 120B of the Penal Code.
