WHEN it comes to online scams and scammers, tactics are always changing as people become more aware of the tricks that are being used to part people from their hard-earned money.
One such trick is to pose as a legitimate government body - especially if it is one that has the power to actually take action on online scammers, or one that many would assume has the jurisdiction to do so.
Recently, advertisements appeared on social media claiming that the Attorney General's Chambers could be contacted directly to help those who are victims of scammers.
Clicking on the advertisement opens up a Facebook Chat conversation with a person stating that they are an "assistant" working with this government body who will claim that they have "work certificates" to prove that they are with the Attorney General's Chambers.
Further conversation will have the person asking how much has been lost to the scam, with them adding that "we do not handle small value cases".
Once a sufficiently large amount is claimed to have been lost, this individual will then ask for the victim's WhatsApp details.
Is it true that this is all being operated by the Attorney General's Chambers?
Verdict:
FALSE
In response to this, an officer with the Attorney General's Chambers said when contacted that they were aware of the advertisements.
The officer who declined to be named then added that what is being claimed in the Facebook conversation is in fact a scam.
"Please ignore what is being claimed in the conversation and in any such advertisements," said the officer.
Meanwhile, the Attorney General's Chambers said in a post on its official Twitter account that the public should be wary of ads claiming to be from a Facebook account named "Putrajaya AGC".
"The Attorney General's Chambers takes the spread of false and confusing information seriously, especially by the 'Putrajaya AGC' Facebook account," it said in the post.
Jabatan Peguam Negara (AGC) memandang serius dan kesal terhadap penyebaran maklumat palsu dan mengelirukan yang tular di media sosial khususnya akaun Facebook palsu AGC, “Putrajaya AGC”.#jabatanpeguamnegara#malaysiamadani#BertekadMenegakkanKeadilan#TaatSetia pic.twitter.com/hXSfEHJVmg — Jab Peguam Negara (@AGCPutrajaya) October 22, 2024
