KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians who have fallen victim to scams are being cautioned about a new fraud trend involving self-styled “anti-scam” law firms that promise high recovery rates but end up cheating victims again.
Datuk Seri Michael Chong, head of the MCA Public Services and Complaints Department, said his office has received complaints concerning online advertisements by supposed law firms claiming over 90% success in resolving scam cases, a figure he described as implausible and misleading.
“This is basically scammers scamming scam victims,” Chong said during a press conference at Wisma MCA here on Monday (Dec 15).
He said his department has recorded two such cases, one last year and another this year. In the first, a woman seeking to recover RM1,500 lost to a scam was subsequently cheated of RM1.2mil. In the more recent case, a man who had lost RM390,000 to a scam lost an additional RM33,000 after engaging what he believed was a legal firm.
“Based on my experience handling scam cases, our success rate is 0%. So how can anyone claim they have a 90% or 95% success rate?” Chong said.
Senior lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, also present at the conference, said the advertisements appeared to be crafted to lure specific communities, especially Chinese victims. He noted that, in his legal practice, Chinese clients were more likely to enquire about a firm’s “success rate”, making such claims an effective hook.
“They hook you with an interesting story, and then they wipe you off completely,” Shafee said, adding that the same group of scammers may operate under multiple law firm names.
Shafee also questioned the legitimacy of the firms, highlighting inconsistencies in their claims. While the advertisements present these outfits as “cross-border” legal operators, they reference payments in ringgit, suggesting the operations are based in Malaysia and are targeting local victims.
“If you are a genuine cross-border law firm, why use ringgit? Ringgit is not a widely traded currency. This shows they are aiming at Malaysians,” he said.
He emphasised that legal advertising in Malaysia is strictly regulated under the Legal Profession (Publicity) Rules 2001, which prohibit unauthorised or misleading publicity.
“From what we’ve seen, these do not look like bona fide advertisements. They look wrong and are inconsistent with what the rules allow,” Shafee said.
Checks by The Star found that some of the social media advertisements highlighted by Chong and Shafee are still visible on Facebook.
