Almost every day, there is a new headline about Malaysians falling victim to scams. Millions of ringgit have been lost to these fraudsters, with the police saying that many gullible people are still falling prey to this scam, despite numerous warnings.
According to the police, there are at least 30 new cases of Malaysians being cheated via mobile phones daily.
Selangor police chief Comm Datuk Mazlan Mansor said there were 523 Macau scam cases reported this year alone. “Losses are hitting an estimated RM29mil in Selangor alone,” he said.
In Penang, there have been 520 cheating cases committed through fake phone calls involving losses of RM27mil since 2016.
The term “Macau scam” was coined because it is believed that it originated from Macau or that the first victims came from there. This has never been confirmed.
The scam often starts with a phone call from someone pretending to be an officer from a bank, Bank Negara or government agencies such as the Immigration or Customs departments as well as police or debt collector.
The scammer will then claim that the potential victim owed money or had an unpaid fine, often with a short window of time to settle the payment.
These victims are asked to make the payments quickly to get them off the hook.
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