KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians who have fallen victim to scams are being warned about a new form of fraud involving self-styled “anti-scam” law firms that promise unusually high recovery rates but ultimately exploit victims again, says MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong.
He said his office has received complaints involving online advertisements by entities claiming to be law firms, which said that they had success rates of more than 90% in resolving scam cases.
He said the purported success rate was implausible and misleading.
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“This is basically scammers scamming scam victims,” he said during a press conference at Wisma MCA here yesterday.
He said his department has so far recorded two such cases, one last year and another this year.
In the earlier case, a woman who was attempting to recover RM1,500 lost to a scam was subsequently cheated of RM1.2mil.
In the recent case, a man who had lost RM390,000 to a scam ended up losing a further RM33,000 after engaging what he believed to be 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 asked.
Senior lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah who was also present at the press conference, said the advertisements appeared to be deliberately crafted to lure specific communities, particularly the Chinese.
He said in his experience in the legal practice, Chinese clients were more likely to ask about a firm’s “success rate”, making such claims an effective psychological incentive.
“They hook you with an interesting story, and then they wipe you off completely,” he said, adding that the same group of scammers may be operating under multiple law firm names.
Muhammad Shafee also questioned the legitimacy of the purported firms, pointing out inconsistencies in their claims.
While presenting themselves as “cross-border” legal operators, he said the advertisements prominently reference payments in ringgit – a detail Muhammad Shafee said strongly suggests their 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 their intended victims are Malaysians,” he said.
Muhammad Shafee stressed 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,” he added.
Based on checks by The Star yesterday, some of the social media advertisements highlighted by Chong and Muhammad Shafee were still visible on Facebook.
