More and more falling victim to Macau scam

PETALING JAYA: An increasing number of reports are being lodged by victims of Macau scam syndicates and Bukit Aman is warning the public not to be so easily fooled.

IGP secretariat corporate communications chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk Asmawati Ahmad said lately many victims have been duped by scammers claiming to be from banks or even the police.

She said the Macau scams are categorised as telecommunication fraud.

“These scams are masterminded by syndicates in Taiwan and China, which used international phone numbers from Hong Kong as well as Malaysia,” she said.

The modus operandi include phone calls to lucky draw winners, ransom demands for purported kidnapping and spoofing, where the syndicate members posed as police personnel, Bank Negara officials or even bank officers.

“Spoofing is done through the use of Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) that enables callers to mask their actual phone numbers to resemble any number in order to fool victims.

“Scammers will often pose as police personnel and inform victims they are suspected of being involved in illegal activities. Victims are then required to transfer their savings to another account to prevent the account from being frozen,” said SAC Asmawati.

Another method is duping victims to pay a certain amount of tax in order to claim prizes.

“Scammers will call the victims and inform them that they have won a certain luxury prize.

“They will ask the victims to transfer money into a bank account but in the end they receive nothing,” she said.

SAC Asmawati reminded the public not to follow instructions from dubious callers.

“They must first verify the authenticity of such calls with the police or any financial institutions,” she said.

SAC Asmawati urged those targeted by scammers to come forward and lodge a police report as soon as possible.