Victim-turned-scam buster shares hard-learnt lesson

Be wary of schemes with tell-tale signs of a scam, warns central bank

PETALING JAYA: Once a victim of an investment scam, financial adviser Afyan Mat Rawi made it his mission not to let the same fate befall others.

The 37-year-old got caught up in a get-rich-quick scheme while studying for his bachelor’s degree in law at the International Islamic University Malaysia in 2003, after being recommended by student leaders.

“I only lost RM300, but that was a lot for a young student. Thankfully, that was the first and last one I joined,” he said, adding that his family fell for a separate scam at around the same time.

After graduating, he worked in Islamic insurance and financial planning and realised how many get-rich-quick schemes there were out there, especially from clients who were conned.

He created a Facebook page in 2008 to share information about questionable investment opportunities, earning him the nickname of “scam buster”.

The page “Afyan Mat Rawi, IFP” now has nearly 30,000 likes and often receives tip-offs from insiders who want to expose scammers.

“Over the years, I’ve been intimidated with threats on Facebook. Some even brought bouncers to my office to scare me. A company tried to sue me for defaming them by exposing their scam,” he said.

He claims to have uncovered about 50 dubious companies so far.

Afyan’s three-step guide to measuring if a company might be a scammer is – check the company’s claims and owners’ background; see if the company is registered with Bank Negara or Securities Commission: and if the guaranteed returns are above 15% per annum, it is very likely a scam.

“No matter what the scam is – Forex, Gold, MLM – they use almost the same modus operandi. You can tell at a glance – they always offer quick cash returns with illogical dividends,” he said.

PETALING JAYA: Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) will step in to investigate the money game firm JJPTR once a police report is received.

Assistant governor Abu Hassan Alshari Yahaya said the firm could be investigated under the AntiMoney Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act (AMLA) or the Banking and Financial Institutions Act (Bafia).

“If the victims feel that they have been cheated by the company, the police can take it up as a criminal case. Apart from BNM, the police can freeze the bank accounts of those involved in fraud and money-laundering,” he told Sin Chew Daily.

Abu Hassan said that only banks, which have a licence from BNM, could engage in foreign exchange (forex) investment, and that unlicensed operations were illegal.

Bank Negara also advised the public to watch out for tell-tale features of scams, such as some forex trading that promises interest rates, returns or profits much higher than those offered by licensed financial institutions for deposits.

It said that in the beginning, the operators were able to use the money received from subsequent depositors to pay high returns or repay the principal amount to earlier depositors.

However, the operators could not invest the deposits in equally or more lucrative ventures or investments, and would not be able to sustain the high returns promised to depositors.

“These schemes will fail eventually when there are no more new deposits. The get-rich-quick schemes will then collapse and the depositors or investors will lose their investments,” said the central bank.

It added that the operators approach the public either by mail, telephone, Internet or in person with the intention to take money from unsuspecting victims for goods or services that they have no intention to provide.

Other signs of such forex trading include asking investors to sign a business contract with a principal company overseas.

In most cases, Bank Negara said the operators would inform the investors that they would send these contracts to the principal company overseas for signing.

“However, such contracts will be left unsigned.

“In the event the investors are unhappy with future dealings and transactions, no action can be taken against the company as there is no binding contract between them,” it added.

Bukit Aman Commercial Crimes Investigations Department director Comm Datuk Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said it is common sense to be suspicious when someone offers investment packages with such high returns in a short period of time.

He added that police have yet to receive reports from the investors or victims of JJPTR.