Beware of RM500 laptop scam

The Pahang police today urged the public to be wary of offers for cheap laptops for as low as RM500 per unit.

State Commercial Crime chief Supt Zaini Jass said the police had received two reports on the scam last Saturday and Sunday after the victims were approached by a 31-year-old man who offered to sell a laptop, supposedly goods seized in a customs raid.

Beware of investment scams: Securities Commission

Investors should be wary of schemes promising extraordinarily high returns within a short period as investment scams are on the rise, warned the Securities Commission (SC).

In a statement yesterday, the SC issued the alert that investment scams were being marketed to the public, disguised as various types of business or investment opportunities that might involve investing in different types of products.

The public can report illegal investments by calling 03-62048999/8777 or e-mailing aduan@seccom.com.my

Beware of SMS lucky prize

WAH Chan Consolidated Sdn Bhd has warned the public to be wary of a bogus SMS being circulated in the northern region of a purported “Wah Chan Grand Draw”.

The SMS informs the public that they had won a prize in the lucky draw and they have to bank-in RM50 to a bank account for the “prize delivery process”.

In a statement, the company’s spokesman said he had made a police report in Petaling Jaya on the matter.

For clarification, call the company’s marketing department at 03-79575807.

Types of scam

Animal vaccine:

These vaccines are ostensibly for farmers to use on their animals to help them breed faster. The demonstrations conducted by the con men are so convincing that the victims do not hesitate to buy the “magic vaccine” despite its high price.

Currency exchange:

Customers are offered extraordinary rates when they want to convert their money.

Inheritance:

Syndicates would use seemingly authentic documents to assure their victims that a great grandfather or close relative had died, leaving tons of money without an heir.

The victims are told that they would be charged a service fee and that they would then have a share of the riches. Once the money is paid out to the fraudster, he would disapppear.

Parcel delivery:

Professionals such as lecturers and executives who surt the Internet frequently are often the victims. After befriending the victims through online chats, the conman would send them a parcel purportedly containing a “gift” such as a laptop, a watch or even jewellery.

Victims are told that the parcel had been held up by Customs, so they must pay a processing fee to retrieve the parcel.

Once the fee is banked into a local bank account, there would still be no sign of the parcel.

Job offers:

Foreigners are dangled job positions in Malaysian hotels, multinational companies and telecommunication firms with promises of good salaries.

All the dealings are done via Internet. The victims are mostly from countries such as Qatar, Pakistan and the Philippines. They would be asked to pay for “visas” and “work permit fees”.

Lotteries:

Victims are told that through their email addresses, they have been selected as lottery winners where the prizes come in US dollars or pound sterling. To get the money, the victim has to be a member of a club and would be asked to pay very high membership fees.

Jewellery:

A syndicate would offer to sell gold in a form known as “granules”. The dealings often take place in hotel rooms where victims would be shown the genuine stuff initially but they would later discover that all they got is just a packet of metal powder.

“Bomoh”:

This usually involves celebrities and the wealthy who are eager to double their riches. The syndicate would use a piece of yellow cloth, a candle and the Quran, besides chantings.

Victims are persuaded to leave a certain amount of money inside a bag. The are not allowed to open it until a specific time. Later, they would discover that all the money inside the bag had been quietly taken out and replaced with paper.

Credit card:

The suspects would use forged credit cards to settle their purchases at shopping malls, then reselling the items at a higher price later.

Drug-dealing:

Local women are made use of to smuggle drugs out of the country in exchange for jobs overseas.

How to fall prey to Black Money scam

The Black Money scam, also known as the Nigerian 419 scam, was reported by Interpol to have surfaced in Malaysia in 1998.

(419 refers to a section of a Nigerian law that deals with fraud.)

Most of these con artists enter the country on a social visit pass which allows them to stay up to 30 days.

They tend to enrol in local colleges, some even reputable ones, just to obtain student visas so that they could extend their stay here.

These so-called students are believed to pay off college staff to mark their attendance.

They would then send out random emails and SMS, promising huge piles of money. Usually a “processing fee” is required in advance from their targets.