Scammers on the prowl for unwary festive shoppers

PETALING JAYA: With the festive season fast approaching, scammers are on the prowl, offering “too good to be true” deals for goods and services.

Housewife Angeline Wong (not her real name), 55, said she was browsing her Facebook timeline recently when she came across an advertisement for festive biscuits being sold for as low as RM10 per box in conjunction with the upcoming Chinese New Year.

Thinking that she was getting a good deal, she immediately contacted the account owner to buy five boxes of cookies.

“The person replied almost instantly, and I was told to pay upfront so that the owner could make a booking for the cookies,” Wong said. “However, after I made the payment, the account immediately blocked me.”

Although she was upset at being scammed, she said she would not report the case to the authorities.

This year, the Chinese Lunar New Year will be celebrated on Feb 10, and the fasting month of Ramadan is expected to begin on March 11, followed by Hari Raya.

For Hari Raya, housewife Sameena Abd usually buys fabrics to sew for her family’s festive outfits from her two preferred online shopping platforms.

The 35-year-old said she was in a hurry to get the materials last year and ended up being scammed.

“I messaged the shop through an online platform and was told to contact them directly on their official Telegram account.

“From there, I was told to pay for the order, which cost me almost RM300, and was given a tracking number. It seemed very straightforward, so I thought nothing of it,” she said.

As the week went on and Sameena did not receive any updates from the shop, she messaged the same Telegram account but did not get any reply.

She then messaged the shop via the online platform and was told no such order was received from their side. It was later revealed to her that an individual was abusing the fabric shop’s account and pretending to be their staff.

On Jan 3, Stampin MP Chong Chien Jen posted on Facebook that he had helped a victim who lost more than RM44,000 to a house-cleaning service scam.

He wrote that the woman had engaged with a Facebook account administrator and had initially encountered some problems trying to pay for the service.

The next day, she discovered that her bank account was blocked. When she contacted the bank, she found out that eight unauthorised transfers had been made to someone else’s bank account.

Chong said that he has sent a letter to Bank Negara, asking the regulator to take action on such cases and that he would also raise the issue with the Finance Ministry.