I’m a victim of Facebook scam, says Piasau assemblyman

MIRI: Piasau assemblyman Dato Sebastian Ting denies having sent dubious messages to his friends on social media, being certain that his Facebook account has been hacked or cloned by someone.

Ting, who is also the secretarygeneral of Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) – a component of Sarawak’s ruling coalition, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) – believes that his Facebook account under the name ‘Seb Ting” has been hacked by an unknown person, and he stresses that the offer of financial assistance purportedly worth US$450,000 (about RM1.83 million) to the disabled individuals, retired workers and those unemployed ‘is a scam’.

A police report has been lodged.

According to Ting, he received a call from a close friend around 7.30 pm on Wednesday, who informed him about receiving ‘strange messages’ from him (Ting) via Facebook messenger.

Ting then requested his friend to forward these messages to him. He also noticed that the telephone number appeared to be ‘a Nigerian number’.

He said some of his friends from Miri and Kuching had also alerted him about the same thing.

“We must be very careful with social media. Do not believe everything we read – especially those advising you about your good luck in winning a lottery or lucky draw, before asking you to give your personal details, mobile phone (contacts) and bank accounts, among other things,” he said, adding that he has already changed his Facebook password.

It is reported that Ting was the second GPS politician who encountered such scam recently.

On Jan 18, Assistant Minister of Women, Family and Childhood Development Rosey Yunus discovered a fake Facebook account with her name and photo, offering welfare aid.

The Bekenu assemblywoman immediately lodged a police report after that.