KUALA LUMPUR: Online loan scammers are now targeting innocent neighbours by splashing paint on their homes and issuing threats to pressure borrowers or their families into paying inflated debts.
MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong said the syndicates deliberately harass neighbours who have no connection to the loans, hoping they would pressure the victims into settling the debts.
"They no longer target only the borrower or family members. They now target neighbours by splashing paint on their houses so they will pressure the borrower to pay.
"They even tell the neighbour, 'We attacked your house because your neighbour owes us money. Now make them pay.' It makes no sense, but that is the intimidation tactic they use," he told a press conference at Wisma MCA on Friday (July 24).
Michael said these syndicates were not genuine loan sharks but scammers posing as moneylenders before extorting victims by demanding many times more than the original loan amount.
In the latest case, a 51-year-old manager, who wanted to be known only as Phua, said her younger brother had borrowed S$1,000 from a syndicate claiming to be Singapore loan sharks.
The scammers later demanded S$10,000, warning that the amount would double to S$20,000 if payment was not made.
"The family even offered to pay S$2,000 to settle the matter, but the offer was rejected and the threats continued," Michael said.
Michael said the scammer, who identified himself only as "Simon", contacted the family using foreign telephone numbers and openly challenged the authorities when negotiations were attempted.
“He told me he didn't know who Michael was and only knew Michael Jackson. He also admitted to threatening to burn down houses," Michael claimed, adding that police should investigate whether the suspect was linked to other similar arson cases.
He said police reports had been lodged and the case, initially investigated by the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID), had since been referred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) following threats to burn down houses and kill the victims.
Michael added that police had arrested the man believed to have splashed paint on the property, but said he was merely a runner hired to carry out the attack.
"The runner has been arrested, but the mastermind remains at large. Police must go after the person directing these operations," he said.
The complainant, who requested anonymity, apologised to her neighbour for being caught up in the ordeal, saying the family only discovered what had happened after finding a note outside the house and later reviewing CCTV footage before lodging a police report.
She said the neighbour later contacted the syndicate, believing the wrong house had been targeted, only to be told the attack was intentional to pressure the family into paying the debt.
"They repeatedly threatened to burn our house if we refused to pay. My whole family has been living in fear, and we can't sleep because we don't know what will happen next," she said, adding that despite the runner's arrest, the mastermind behind the threats remains free.
