PETALING JAYA: What began as an attempt by a man to buy a bicycle online soon spiralled into a long nightmare.
Not only was Mohamad Anuar Abdul Wahid, 70, cheated out of a bicycle and his money, but he also ended up having his identity stolen to defraud others in a long-running property rental scam.
In 2016, Mohamad Anuar had sent a copy of his MyKad to an online seller of a bicycle, believing at that time the request was pretty reasonable, as it was to ensure that he did not back out of his online order.
“I wanted to buy a bicycle and was tempted by the cheap price. Without much thought, I transferred RM1,000 to the seller.
ALSO READ: Rental fraud spikes 400% amid rise in identity theft
“The seller later asked for a copy of my identity card, claiming that it was part of the delivery process.
“I complied with the request, but the bicycle never arrived, and the seller became unreachable. That’s when I realised I had been cheated,” he said in an interview.
However, that was not the end of it.
Soon after, Mohamad Anuar received a legal suit, naming him as a defendant and accusing him of having received money from the plaintiff for an apartment lease.
“Thankfully, the lawsuit was dropped after the plaintiff failed to attend court, which confirmed that I was not involved in any rental offer,” said Mohamad Anuar, adding that his identity had been misused.
He said since then, he had been contacted by several individuals who also claimed that he had offered properties for rent despite him not owning any of these.
“At least six people have contacted me, including people from Penang, Johor Baru and Serdang in Selangor.
“Some claimed they had paid a deposit, and some even said they paid twice, all to my name,” he said.
ALSO READ: ‘Social media platforms make it easier to target victims’
Muhamad Anuar believes that scammers might have used a copy of his MyKad – which he shared almost 10 years ago – and his former address to convince victims that he was a legitimate landlord.
He has lodged three police reports – in 2016, 2017 and last year – as well as complained to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
His son even took to Facebook to publicly deny any rental services offered under his father’s name.
Muhamad Anuar is just one of many whose identity has been stolen and misused for property rental fraud, which numbers have skyrocketed recently, according to police data.
Suhaila Md Ismail came forward after her identity also was misused by a syndicate involved in rental fraud.
In her case, fraudsters used her photo in a WhatsApp profile image to “advertise” rental properties.
Suhaila believes that the misuse of her photo might have stemmed from an old TikTok video that went viral in 2022.
In her previous post, Suhaila was seeking property agents to help sell her home in Setapak.
“I realised my identity was misused when an acquaintance who almost became a victim told me about it,” she said.
Suhaila suggested that the syndicate appears to have selected details about her location from her post, which they then exploited to attract additional victims through social media.
She said the syndicate had also used an alias, which Suhaila suspected was also a stolen identity, and shared a phone number that was supposedly linked to a “niece”.
This number turned out to be a WhatsApp account featuring her photo and name.
Although she did not suffer direct financial losses, Suhaila, who is a psychologist, said the emotional and professional impact is deeply troubling.
“I don’t know who may have already transferred money or who might be angry, thinking I cheated them. That’s what worries me the most,” she said.
She was advised by the police to file a report to facilitate the removal of the scam-related content and to submit a complaint to MCMC.
“Even if one number is blocked, scammers will just use another number or a different identity. The modus operandi remains the same,” she lamented, adding that checks showed that the same individual was allegedly involved in similar cases in other areas, including Johor, Terengganu and Klang.
Trust and credibility, she said, are critical in her line of work, fearing that the incident could affect her reputation in the long term.
“In my industry, trust is everything. That’s why I feel this matter cannot be ignored,” she said.
