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Showing posts with label Fraud. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fraud. Show all posts

Thursday 23 November 2023

Using algorithms to check fraud

New way: In addition to developing algorithms to trace money that could have ended up in the hands of fraudsters, the NFP will be able to forecast the pattern of mule accounts. — AZLINA ABDULLAH/The Star

New National Fraud Portal to streamline end-to-end scam responses

PETALING JAYA: The National Fraud Portal (NFP) will be able to predict the pattern of mule accounts as well as create algorithms to track funds that may have fallen into the hands of scammers, says Bank Negara governor Datuk Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour.

Bank Negara, he said, had decided to put more effort into curbing fraud, especially online financial fraud, as the perpetrators were not only “getting smarter by the hour” but also more sophisticated in their use of new technologies.

These efforts, said Abdul Rasheed, were also in line with the National Risk Assessment of 2023 findings that fraud was one of the five high-risk crimes beside corruption, drug trafficking, smuggling and organised crime.

ALSO READ:  NFP requires certain policies to be effective, say experts

“Bank Negara is actively collaborating with PayNet and the financial industry to launch the NFP by the middle of next year.

“Building on the framework and foundations of the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC), the NFP will streamline the industry’s end-to-end scam response, from initial identification and reporting to the recovery of funds.

“This platform will enhance efficiency by automating processes, enabling a more rapid response to assist victims.

“We envision the NFP expanding to include predictive assessments of mule accounts, advanced analytics, and fund-tracing algorithms,” said Abdul Rasheed, declining to divulge further details.

ALSO READ:  Budget 2024: National Scam Response Centre allocation doubled to RM20mil

PayNet is the national provider of financial market utilities, set up to build inclusive, accessible and efficient payments and financial ecosystems for Malaysia.

Bank Negara is PayNet’s single largest shareholder, with 11 of the country’s financial institutions as joint shareholders.

Abdul Rasheed said since the NSRC was launched in October 2022, it had received over 19,000 reports on scam cases, leading to the freezing of over RM60mil and the identification of 43,000 mule accounts.

The NFP currently being worked on by the central bank stems from the success of measures such as the “kill switch” for customers introduced by all major banks, he said.

“Falling victim to financial fraud is undoubtedly difficult for those affected, with some victims losing their entire life savings and struggling to regain their economic footing.

ALSO READ: National fraud portal to be ready by mid-2024 - BNM

“With the support of the banking associations, all major banks have implemented these measures, including restricting authentication apps to a single device and introducing a ‘kill switch’ for customers.

“We have observed a 58% reduction in unauthorised online banking transactions reported to the NSRC in the last five months.

“Bank Negara is now also assessing a number of additional policy enhancements on the handling of financial scams.

“This includes strengthening the requirements for financial institutions to undertake more robust investigations, adopt stronger preventive controls, and review the effectiveness of these mechanisms.

“We also plan to clarify the responsibilities of customers to protect themselves and their rights if they fall victim to fraud,” said Abdul Rasheed.

Bank Negara’s efforts to curb scams have been ongoing, with the past year seeing financial institutions migrate from the one-time password (OTP) system to having a ‘cooling-off period’ for the first-time registration of online banking services or secure devices and limiting authentication to one device per customer.

Banks now have their own scam hotlines with more advisories for their customers.

A source with Bank Negara said the portal’s secrecy was one of the key factors in ensuring that scammers were not working in tandem with its development.

“It is crucial that we are one step ahead of the scammers. The problem has always been that we are always running behind the scammers, and now we are playing catch-up,” said the source.

Source link

Related stories:

NFP requires certain policies to be effective, say experts

SC ups the ante in war against investment scams

SC receives 2,873 scam-related complaints as at 3Q

Budget 2024: National Scam Response Centre allocation doubled to RM20mil

National fraud portal to be ready by mid-2024 - BNM

Related posts:

Scam rampant, become a ‘scamdemic', with victims being forced to commit online crimes also believed to have set up scam centres in Malaysia

Thursday 29 July 2021

Lack of integrity detrimental to nation's economic growth, Malaysia's coffers run dry COVID-19 pandemic worsens


LIPUTAN BERITA MAJLIS 7TH ANNUAL ECOFI VIRTUAL SYMPOSIUM (AES 2021) OLEH TV3 

Mustapa: Lack of integrity in institutions detrimental to nation's economic growth

The COVID-19 Impact in Kuala Lumpur

KUALA LUMPUR: No country can graduate to become high-income status without first improving governance, eliminating corruption and promoting integrity in every sector, according to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

As the public is closely watching the government’s performance in areas of governance and integrity, the Auditor General’s Department must carry out its responsibility to audit all expenditures by ministries and agencies.

Amid the aspiration to be a developed nation in both the public and private sector, Mustapa admitted that issues of concerns have emerged in the country such as fraud, corruption, poor governance, weak financial management, abuse of power, and many unethical practices.

“Lack of integrity in institutions, public and private sector will be detrimental to our nation’s economic growth.

“In the current situation when we are facing tough economic and health challenges, these subjects (good governance and integrity) have become more important.

“We must be prudent in our spending. There must be zero tolerance for abuse of power and weak governance,” he said in his speech when officiating the virtual seventh annual ECoFI Symposium (AES) 2021 yesterday.

Mustapa said every sen spent on the government’s stimulus packages has to be monitored closely to ensure that the objectives of assisting the people and businesses were achieved in times of crisis, while strengthening the governance and integrity for swift economic recovery.

Meanwhile, Malaysia Association of Certified Fraud Examiners president Datuk Seri Akhbar Satar said there are numerous actions that needed to be taken in the Covid-19 response and recovery.

These include building fair framework for data openness and access; address immediate risks in the emergency public procurement, mechanisms for effective implementation, compliance and review, safeguarding fairness in the enforcement of public integrity standards and foster a culture of integrity in leadership.

“Transparency is even more crucial during a crisis. (The) lack in checks and balances can lead to abuse of public procurement as some rules and regulations have been loosened.

“It can even lead to the practice of price fixing and collusive bidding – which are normal methods used in emergency procurement,” he said. — Bernama

 Source link

Commentary: Malaysia's coffers run dry as COVID-19 pandemic worsen - CNA

Contract doctors participate in a walkout strike at Kuala Lumpur Hospital in Malaysia on Jul 26, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Lim Huey Teng)

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Thursday 22 October 2015

6 Singapore church leaders found guilty of fraud over pastor's wife's failed S$50m music career

City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee (R) and his wife Sun Ho arrive at the State Courts in Singapore
VIDEO: A Sun Ho music video, featuring Wyclef Jean
A video from an English-language single, "China Wine", shows her dancing intimately with rapper Wyclef Jean, sparking criticism that she had betrayed her calling as a Christian pastor.

Six religious leaders in Singapore who used $50 million in church funds in a failed bid to turn the pastor's glamorous wife into a global pop star have been convicted of fraud.

Top left to right: former finance manager Serina Wee, founder Kong Hee, former finance manager Sharon Tan. Bottom left to right: , deputy senior pastor Tan Ye Peng, former treasurer John Lam, and former fund manager Chew Eng Han. Photo: Reuters

After a two-year trial that captivated Singapore with tales of lavish spending and financial deceit, pastor Kong Hee and five aides were found guilty of diverting $Sg24 million ($24 million) to finance his wife Sun Ho's music career, which was portrayed as a religious mission.

The six were also found guilty of misappropriating another $Sg26m from City Harvest Church to cover their tracks, prosecutors said.

Ms Ho, who starred in a music video with rapper Wyclef Jean, was not charged.

The church said Ms Ho's music could be used to attract followers.

On Wednesday, Judge See Kee Oon found the accused guilty of criminal breach of trust or falsification of accounts, or both.

The maximum penalty for criminal breach of trust, which all six were convicted of, is life imprisonment, according to the penal code.

The six were granted bail before their sentencing date, which has not yet been set.

The glamorous couple fell from grace after the leaders were charged in 2013 and the court was told how church funds were spent on music videos, marketing and a luxurious lifestyle

Prosecutors said Kong and his subordinates engaged in a practice called "round-tripping" by channelling money allotted for a church building fund into sham bonds in linked companies so they could finance Ms Ho's music career.

They falsified church accounts to make it appear the bonds were redeemed, prosecutors said. - AFP


Singapore megachurch leaders hit a sour note in pop music fraud case

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The co-founder of a Singapore church and five other leaders were convicted of multi-million dollar fraud on Wednesday for diverting money to support his wife's pop singing career, a rare fall from grace in the tightly regulated city-state.

The mix of money, faith and scandal in the case has fascinated the public in affluent Singapore, where such cases are rare under a system with little tolerance for corruption.

Senior pastor Kong Hee heads City Harvest Church, one of a growing number of Singapore's megachurches preaching "prosperity gospel" that blends spiritual and material aspirations. (http://reut.rs/1LCxhXr)

The churches have ambitions to turn Singapore into a centre for evangelical Christianity and to export their faith to the world. Kong was arrested and charged in 2012 with criminal breach of trust and falsifying accounts.

The six church officials were convicted of diverting nearly S$51 million (£23.97 million) in funds to advance the career of Kong's wife, Ho Yeow Sun.

"There is no doubt that they had something to hide ... They knew they were acting dishonestly," Judge See Kee Oon said in convicting the six in the Singapore subordinate court.

Ho has focused on the Mandarin pop market and has released albums, including "Embrace", through Warner Music Taiwan.

A video from an English-language single, "China Wine", shows her dancing intimately with rapper Wyclef Jean, sparking criticism that she had betrayed her calling as a Christian pastor.

Ho, the co-founder and executive director of the church, was not charged in the case.

The church, which had around 17,000 members last year, has stuck by its leader. It held a prayer session for Kong and others on Tuesday night and Ho issued a message of support after the court ruling.

"Thank you for your unwavering faithfulness in loving God and loving one another. More than ever before, let’s have a unity that is unbreakable," she said on the church website.

(Reporting by Rujun Shen; Writing by Rodney Joyce; Editing by Paul Tait)


Friday 21 February 2014

Beware of Cheque scams, banks take responsibility

Senior citizens' cheques were intercepted and stampered with in separate incidents
 
PETALING JAYA: Two senior citizens nearly lost thousands of ringgit when their cheques were intercepted and tampered with in separate incidents.

In the first incident, a man who paid his utility bills through cheques sent via mail was shocked to find that the amount deducted from his account was 10 times what he had written on one of the cheques.

The foreign national, who only wanted to be known as Richard, owns a home in Malaysia.

He issued a cheque for RM200 to pay his electricity bill in November last year.

“When I received the bank statement, I was shocked to see that the amount deducted was more than RM2,000,” he said.

When the bank gave him a copy of the cheque that was deposited, he realised that the cheque had been replaced with a fake one.

“The cheque was a different one altogether and it was made to one Alan Lim @ Lim Sze Wei. Only the serial number was the same as the one I had issued and there was a forged version of my signature,” he said, adding that the design on the cheque was also different as he was still using an older version.

“I only issue cheques once or twice a month and have not changed the cheque book for years. The old version had the bank logo in the centre. The fake cheque had a completely different design without the logo in the centre,” said Richard, who is in his 80s. Richard then lodged a police report.

In the second case, an 87-year-old pensioner’s cheque was believed to be intercepted and the name of the payee and amount altered, said his daughter K.L. Wong.

She said her father routinely paid his insurance policy premiums by cheque sent via mail, which was what he did on Jan 31.

He wrote a cheque for RM169 payable to a bank’s card centre to pay for his policy and posted it the next day.

On Feb 13, Wong, who handles most her father’s accounts because he is wheelchair-bound, called the bank to check if the cheque had been cleared.

“I was told the card centre had not received it and there was no payment for the December and January premiums,” she said.

Upon checking the account balance, she discovered that RM4,600 had been deducted.

“At first, the bank thought the cheque might have been processed and paid to the wrong person.”

When she requested for a scanned image of the cheque from the bank, she discovered all the payment details had been altered.

“It was the same cheque but the original details were somehow ‘washed out’. Only my father’s signature remained. The cheque was altered to pay someone by the name of Lim Teng Yong,” she said, adding that the person was unknown to her father.

Wong said the bank admitted that it was not the first complaint it had received involving the same name being used to cash fraudulent cheques.

She added that the bank promised to investigate the matter and she lodged a police report the next day.

Richard and Wong’s father’s cheques were issued by the same bank. After internal investigations, the bank reimbursed both men.

“It was good the bank was willing to take responsibility but there is obviously a scam going on. The public should be aware of how cheques are being tampered with or forged,” said Wong.

The bank declined to comment.

- Contributed by Jastin Ahmad Tarmizi The Star/Asia News Network

Related:
1. Indus American Bank
2. Securing yourself against Fake Deposit Scams
3. CHCH – Your Superstation Buyer beware for fraudulent cheques

Friday 13 September 2013

Prevent ATM thieves and cyber crimes on the rise

Banks to arm machines with ink bombs to stain stolen notes


PETALING JAYA: Thieves who rob automated teller machines will be left with worthless pieces of paper if a Bank Negara proposal is put into place. Dye bombs are to be placed in the ATMs and if anyone tampers with the machines, the “bomb” goes off, leaving the notes stained in red and easily recognisable as stolen money.

Bank Negara, in its guidelines on Dye-Stained Banknotes dated Aug 26, is calling on both banks and Cash in Transit Companies to consider using the currency protection device (CPD) to deter ATM theft.

Local security company Extro Code Sdn Bhd demonstrated yesterday a CPD or dye pack which is already available in the market.

Its technical director Mohd Zaki Sulaiman said that once installed, the dye pack would be triggered when someone tries to break into the ATM.

“The device is like a smoke bomb which releases the ink onto the stacks of banknotes in the ATM,” he said.

Mohd Zaki said there’s no actual explosion but there is some heat when the CPD is triggered.“The actual triggering mechanism is a trade secret,” he added.

He said the ink called Disperse Red 9 was not harmful. He said the ink was imported but the actual CPD was developed and produced locally.

Mohd Zaki declined to reveal the cost of each dye pack and the installation cost. “Who pays for the device will depend on Bank Negara and the banks,” he said.

He said there are four ATM providers in the country but installing the dye-packs in the different machines should not be a problem.

The Bank Negara guidelines state that the CPD would emit a bright coloured dye by smoke, liquid or any other agent to stain the currency in the event ATMs are broken into.

This will enable authorities and the public to easily identify the defaced stolen currency and render them unfit for use.

The guidelines also sets out conditions under which these banknotes will be replaced. Among them:
  • > The ink has to be indelible by water, fuel, gas, bleach and detergent.
  • > It must be traceable to the ATM, to assist police investigations.
  • > It must stain at least 10% of each bank note.
  • > It can be detected and rejected by banknotes authentication machines used by banks such as Cash 

Deposit Machines. >It must be non-hazardous and non-toxic.

If banks retrieved the dye-stained currency, they can submit the banknotes to the central bank for assessment.
Tellers will also be trained to detect these banknotes.

The public and retailers will be advised not to accept dye-stained banknotes as they are likely to be stolen.

These measure, Bank Negara believes, will reduce ATM robberies.

In the United States, banks have dye bombs in vaults and any unauthorised person who tries to remove any money will trigger the bomb, leaving all the money – and the robber – stained in ink.


Related stories:
9000 machines nationwide to have CPD
Cops welcome currency protection device proposal

Cyber crimes on the rise - millions of ringgit being lost annually to scams
Public awareness: (From left) Ambank deputy managing director Datuk Mohamed Azmi Mahmood, Khalid and AmIslamic Bank Berhad CEO Datuk Mahdi Morad at the launch of the Scam Alert campaign in Bukit Aman. 
Public awareness: (From left) Ambank deputy managing director Datuk Mohamed Azmi Mahmood, Khalid and AmIslamic Bank Berhad CEO Datuk Mahdi Morad at the launch of the Scam Alert campaign in Bukit Aman 

KUALA LUMPUR: Fraud and cyber crimes in the country have risen unchecked due to the lack of public awareness, while victims are hesitant to report the crime, the police said.

Millions of ringgit have been lost annually to crimes like sms scams and parcel scams, which have mostly gone unnoticed in the public eye.

In a bid to stop such crimes, the police has launched an awareness initiative on the various types of scams in the country.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the initiative, under the National Blue Ocean Strategy, comprised cooperation with the Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) and the Association of Islamic Banking Institutions Malaysia (AIBIM).

The public would be informed and educated on the different types of fraud and cyber crime scams being used by today’s criminals.

“We are posting a list of the various methods and modus operandi used in these scams at our official police website at www.rmp.gov.my.

“This will be linked to the websites of all banks in the country so that anyone can easily access the information which will be regularly updated,” he said after launching the initiative at Bukit Aman yesterday.

Khalid said RM98.6mil in losses was recorded last year in cases involving cyber crimes, including Internet banking fraud as well as sms and parcel scams.

“So far this year, such losses have reached RM80.7mil, which shows that such cases and losses are increasing,” he said.

He added that losses to sms scams had jumped from RM5.8mil last year to RM39.2mil so far this year.

- The Star/Asia News Network

Wednesday 30 May 2012

How this stay at home mom made $13900 monthly income? Believe it or not?


By Erica Jones

Julie investigates a single Mom who makes over $13900+/Month. She reveals her secrets to us.

Amy Livingston of Penang , 09 never thought that she would consider it, until curiosity got the best of her and she filled out a simple online form. Before she knew it, she discovered her secret to beating the recession, and being able to provide for her family while at home with her three children.

I read Amy's blog last month and decided to feature her story in our weekly consumer report. In our phone interview she told me her amazing story. "I actually make about $15,000 to $17,000 a month working from home. It's enough to comfortably replace my old job income, especially considering I only work about 15-18 hours a week from home right now.

Working online has been a financial windfall for Amy, who struggled for months to find a decent job but kept hitting dead ends. "I lost my job shortly after the recession hit, I needed reliable income, I was not interested in the "get rich quick" scams you see all over the internet. Those are all pyramid schemes. I just needed a legitimate way to earn a living for me and my family. The best part of working online is that I am always home with the kids, I save a lot of money."
"I actually make $15,000 to $17,000 a month working from home." - Amy Livingston
I asked her about how she started her remarkable journey. "It was pretty easy, I actually received an email that sparked my interest, so I went to the site, filled out a short form and signed up for a work at home program where I got instant access to everything! Since they offered a 365 Day Money Back Guarantee - I figured I really had nothing to lose. So, I started the program and within four weeks I was making over $5,000 a month. It's really simple, I am not a computer whiz, but I can use the internet. I followed the instructions, and I don't even have to sell anything and nobody has to buy anything. This is a very stable system and they are recruiting, you should try it."

Consumers purchase Billions and Billions of dollars worth of products each year online. Every time people use the internet, go on facebook or do a search, someone is making money. This program will teach you how to get a piece of this money and free yourself from the 9-5. The internet economy has grown by leaps and bounds in the recession, so why not take advantage of the gold rush? There are plenty of scams on the internet claiming you can make $50,000 a month, but that is exactly what they are... scams. From my conversation with Amy, "I am making a good salary from home, which is amazing, under a year ago I was jobless in a horrible economy. I thank God every day that I signed up for this program."
"I am making a good salary from home, which is amazing, under a year ago I was jobless in a horrible economy. I thank God every day that I signed up for this program." - Amy Livingston
Quickly, Amy Livingston was able to use the simple The Online Income System to make it out of the recession.


Amys Step by Step Guide:

Amy had never shared her story before, and with her permission, are putting it public. Here are the steps she told us to take:

Step 1
Visit the following website and review the newsletter with all the details you need to change Your life, as it has Many others. The Online Income System (Universal).

Step 2
Follow the directions and set up an account. You will then be given all the tools you need to start posting links, and making profits. Everything is tracked in a system that will show you how much money you are making (see images above).

Related links:

The Online Income System - Official Website (Rated 2011 Top Oportunity)
Discounted Promotion Ends: Thursday, May 31, 2011

Friday 25 May 2012

Malaysian banks to curb the online scams' ;Carelessness, Lease your bank account to scammers?

PETALING JAYA: Banks will introduce a new layer of security as they work closely with cyber security authorities and the police to combat the proliferation of online fraud.

Cybersecurity Malaysia said fraud cases reported to the agency had doubled from 606 in 2009 to 1,328 in 2010 and 3,142 last year.

“As of April this year, we received nearly 2,000 cases of online banking fraud,” said its CEO Lt Col (Ret) Prof Datuk Husin Jazri, who confirmed that the agency was joining forces with the Association of Banks Malaysia to combat Internet scams.

Going the extra mile: A third layer of security is to be adopted for online systems soon.
 
The agency, under the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry, will work with banks to carry out an intensive campaign to raise awareness of the scams.

The matter has become so serious that CIMB and Maybank recently made a concerted effort to warn of online banking scams by taking a full page advertisement in The Star, urging their customers to report immediately if they received a TAC (Transaction Authorisation Code) which had not been requested.

The TAC, which is sent by SMS to the registered mobile phone of the user, is the second layer of security. The first is the login credentials the username and password.

According to Macro Kiosk Bhd, the mobile service provider for 16 local banks, financial institutions might adopt a “third layer” of security for their online systems soon.

The “Third Factor Authentication” feature will detect attempts to hack into online banking accounts based on the location of the user's mobile.

“It will allow banks to detect the location of the computer used to log into the account and match it with the location of the user's mobile phone.

“For example, if the person accessing the account is found to be outside Malaysia, while the user's mobile phone is in this country, it is likely that something is not right,” said Macro Kiosk CEO Kenny Goh.

The user would then be sent an SMS to confirm if they wanted to continue with the transaction.

“This will alert the user if someone is trying to hack into his or her online banking account.”

By P. ARUNA aruna@thestar.com.my

Hectic lives can lead to carelessness, says cyber cop


PETALING JAYA: It is not always greed or ignorance that leads people to become victims of online scams. Sometimes, a hectic schedule could be the cause.

“Due to our busy schedules, we tend to overlook or forget to be wary of online fraud ... until it happens to us,” said Cybersecurity Malaysia CEO Lt Col (Ret) Prof Datuk Husin Jazri.

He related an incident involving a professional who ended up losing all the money in his bank account within minutes.

“He was about to go out for a meeting when he decided to quickly check his e-mail before leaving the office.

“He then saw one supposedly from his bank asking him to click on a link to update his account details.

“As he was in a hurry, he clicked on the link without much thought and followed the instructions as he was eager to proceed to his meeting.

“It was only much later that he remembered what he had done with the e-mail.

“Suddenly, it occurred to him that it was a hoax because he had heard about such a scam before.”

Husin said that although the victim contacted the agency, it was already too late.

He said Cybersecurity Malaysia had a two-minute video on how to avoid becoming a victim of banking scams that could be downloaded for free from its website http://www.cybersafe.my/video/banking/Banking.wmv.

He said scammers were always “up-to-date” and took advantage of the latest banking trends and offers.

“When a bank launches a mobile banking service, the scammer will also launch a new trick to cheat mobile banking users.

“This year, several new malware known as mobile banking trojans that mimic mobile banking applications have emerged,” he said.

He advised users to pay close attention to security messages posted on online banking websites.

“These initiatives are to help you, they are for your benefit,” said Husin

It doesn’t pay to lease your bank account to scammers


GEORGE TOWN: Two civil servants were nabbed for their alleged involvement in a ‘Macau-scam’ where the victims were cheated of millions of ringgit here.

Both of them were among three people arrested by the police on the mainland.

Penang Commercial Crime Department chief Asst Comm Roslee Chik said the suspects, in their 20s and 30s, had allowed the syndicate members to use their bank accounts for ‘illicit’ money to be deposited.

He said initial investigations showed that the suspects were given commissions by the syndicate for leasing out their accounts.

ACP Roslee said the syndicate members would impersonate personnel from the Home Ministry, Bukit Aman and Bank Negara.

“They use the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, to replicate phone numbers of the police, Bank Negara and other govern­ment agencies to call family members of those implicated in criminal activities overseas.

“The family members would then be told to transfer their money into an account given by the syndicate members, so that the family would not have their assets or bank accounts frozen by the authorities,” he said yesterday.

ACP Roslee said during a press conference at the state police headquarters here that police were still tracking the mastermind behind the scam.

He also said the case was being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.

He added that police were looking for Nazarime Siran, 29, to help in investigation into cheating cases involving the sale of second-hand cars.

Friday 25 November 2011

Don’t be a total sucker!


 There is no easy way to make a fast buck other than cheat and there is no such thing as love at first sight. - a warning to people not to be so silly to believe whatever strangers tell them, especially through the Internet

MORE than 10 years ago when the Internet and e-mails first became popular, many crooks found them to be the most convenient way of cheating people, especially those living thousands of miles away.

The scams were simple ones that played on the element of pity and the sums asked for were small.

Some of the con-artists would pretend to represent certain well-known charitable organisations soliciting US$10 (about RM31).

Many kind-hearted and gullible people did reply to such e-mails and ended up sending cash by post.

If 1,000 people around the world responded, these crooks would get away with US$10,000 (RM31,000) but chances are they got a lot more.

However, people then wised up to such tricks and these criminals got more sophisticated.

While previously they preyed on people’s generosity, now they have turned to our greed. Greed is what the “winning lottery ticket scam” is based on.

People would get e-mails informing them that they had won a lottery worth millions. They would be convinced into paying some money in order to get hold of the bigger sum.

Of course, playing on greed is the surest way to make a scam work. There have been various versions of this winning lottery scheme and they are so obviously tricks, yet all sorts of people have been cheated.

I know of a doctor and a magistrate who lost hundreds of thousands of ringgit to these crooks, who more often than not originate from Africa or specifically Nigeria.

Apologies to any Nigerian who feels offended by this statement, but even the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) has set up many task force teams to tackle and arrest such cyber crooks.

Even 10 years ago, I had found that the NPF had set up a website to handle such complaints.

I even took to e-mailing all suspicious looking e-mails soliciting money or trying to tempt me with money to the NPF, which wrote me a letter of thanks for doing so.



The scams have got even more sophisticated and the crooks started registering e-mail addresses with names of people supposedly related to despots, dictators or deposed leaders from the continent. This was called the inheritance scam.

Their claim is that their father/mother/brother/sister/uncle/friend was that deposed leader and had stashed away millions in a secret account in an off-shore bank and needed to use your account to transfer the money out of that country.

They promised to share the loot and hundreds, if not thousands, have fallen for this trick all over the world.

How people can be so naïve and greedy is beyond comprehension.

Look, there is no such thing as easy money unless it is a trick by a conman to get your money from your wallet.

Just like the black money scam, where these people offer to sell you millions of US dollars for a fraction of the value. The catch was that you needed to buy special chemicals that would “wash specially treated black paper” into becoming US dollars.

Just on Monday night, 76 people, mostly Africans, were arrested by Federal police for cheating hundreds of people of RM29mil through various scams.

Bukit Aman commercial crime investigations deputy director SAC Datuk Rodwan Mohd Yusof said the police received 945 reports from January to October over con jobs that included parcel scams, black money, inheritance swindles and black magic.

A parcel scam is where the schemer would inform a victim that he or she had received parcels with expensive gifts, jewellery or cash, but the parcels had been detained by Customs.

The victim is then persuaded to make a payment to a stipulated account for the parcel to be released.
The schemers reaped RM19.6mil through this scam, the biggest loss suffered by the victims.

This was followed by the black money scam, which netted RM1.4mil.

“The crimes involving African scams are getting serious, with more people falling prey to them,” SAC Rodwan said.

This should be a warning to people not to be so silly to believe whatever strangers tell them, especially through the Internet.

But these scams only rob your pockets, unlike those who prey on innocent ones, especially young women, into becoming drug mules.

Again many Africans are being blamed for this.

They use the social media, namely Facebook, to befriend Malaysian women and lure them to carry a bag to a foreign country.

There are about 100 such women languishing in jails in places like Peru and China for trying to smuggle drugs into those countries.

Deputy Foreign Minister A. Kohi­lan said these syndicates were targeting young women, aged between 20 and 35, without any criminal record.

Kohilan said he spoke to six women who were caught for drug trafficking in Peru during a bilateral visit there last year.

“They claimed that they were cheated. One said a man had promised to marry her and asked her to carry a luggage to Peru,” he said.

Police have found that these tricksters are usually good looking and had the gift of the gab.

Young women easily “fall in love” with them and end up willing to do anything for them.

Parents should remind their daughters that there are many predators on the Internet and all of them have no good intentions.

A recent survey by the Women’s Centre for Change (WCC) found 80% of 100 girls, aged between 15 and 17 surveyed over eight months, had received calls or text messages from strangers via mobile phone while 54% of them had chatted online with strangers.

The centre’s programme director Dr Prema Devaraj said the findings showed young women were now easily accessible to people whom they did not know, including potential perpetrators.

“Many of them don’t seem to understand the danger in making friends with strangers by chatting online or over the phone.

“They may feel ‘safe’ because they are not in the presence of the person they are chatting with,” Dr Prema said.

It is not enough to teach our children to be streetwise.

They must also be taught to be cyberwise. There are just too many crooks and monsters out there.