THE holiday season is here and many Malaysians have already pre-booked their hotel or airbnb stays to enjoy the year-end holidays with their friends and families. In the spirit of festivities and while accommodations start to see an influx of bookings, some customers have also reported of being hit by the hook upfront on deals.
Are scammers advertising accommodation rentals and deals that one can’t resist only to realise that after making full or partial payment that these criminals have somehow vanished?
Verdict:
TRUE
According to the Police Cyber Crime Alert Facebook page, many people are being tricked into booking places to stay and finding out that the deals advertised were just nothing but mere scams.
The police have called the public to be cautious with such advertisements and not easily be fooled into depositing money to these potential scams.
The public have also been advised to use legit platforms when booking accommodations to get the best deals and not be cheated off their money.
At the same time, they have also been cautioned to not give their safety code to the criminals as by doing so would only expose themselves to security threats online, hence becoming victims of scam.
Members of the public have also been urged by the police to check the phone number and account number advertised on the Semakmule portal.
References:
