Teacher loses over RM16,000 to online food scam

SIBU: A female teacher, in her 40s, suffered a loss of RM16,764.30 to a scam involving the ordering and delivery of food via online.

Sibu District police chief ACP Zulkipli Suhaili confirmed having received report on the incident on Friday.

“The victim was attracted to an advertisement on Facebook, about a monthly food ordering and delivery plan.

“She clicked the link, which connected her to an individual named ‘ Alex’ via WhatsApp.

“Alex informed her that the plan would cover for 20 days, at a cost of RM170; if using food containers; then there would be an additional deposit of RM100,” said Zulkipli in a statement yesterday.

He said the teacher agreed to the arrangements, and later, made a reservation payment amounting to RM270, deposited into a local account.

“The victim then received a text message from another individual, named ‘Lee’, asking her to press a link and upload the ‘H & Y delivery’ application.

“On that app, she filled in personal information and registered using her credit card numbers, for the purpose of making a registration payment of RM1 as a new member.

“On March 8, the victim found out that her credit card had been charged RM16,494 for ‘Bigpay’ payments.

“It was then that she realised that she had been scammed, and immediately lodged a police report.”

The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.

In this regard, Zulkipli advised the public: “Be more vigilant. Do not get easily deceived by online advertisements offering low payment rates, across social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, or TikTok.

“Never disclose personal banking information especially account numbers, PIN and passwords, to third parties. Any report or information can be referred to the National Scam Response Centre(NSRC) via 997.

“Follow the pages @ CyberCrimeAlertRMP and @ JSJKPDRM on Facebook.

“To verify bank accounts and phone numbers, go to http://ccid. rmp.gov.my/semakmule/.”