Be it true or not, be afraid, be very afraid

EVERY day, without fail, we read in the newspapers or online media on how Malaysians were tricked of their money.

In these news reports, time and again, the authorities would advise the public to be wary of such scams, providing the list of do’s and don’ts.

Even companies, government bodies and financial institutions put up their advisories periodically, warning the public of such tricksters and fraudsters.

Despite these pre- emptive warnings on how to deal with unsolicited e-mails, calls and other invitations, nobody really takes such notices seriously.

We continue to hear the same old tricks being used over and over again.

In the case of the victims, they always claim ignorance.

Many simply shun reality – making them look like naive victims.

But the simple truth is that many of these people are just gullible and greedy, entering into shady deals with their eyes wide open.

They hope to strike it big without thinking things through or checking the facts and logic behind such offerings.

In a survey conducted by the National Consumer Complaints Centre, what was more surprising is that those tricked by these scammers were in their 30s and below.

The losses also escalated from RM233.76mil in 2015 to RM255.62mil in 2016.

And the number of complainants rose from 44,540 in 2015 to 48,563 in 2016.

In another survey by a telecommunication company, Telenor Group, it revealed that one in five Malaysians had been victims of online scams.

So, how does one deal with such a situation if they have been offered or approached with so-called irresistible deals?

First and foremost, one has to remember that “cheap things are

To stay safe, as a rule of thumb, never reveal sensitive information freely, either verbally or online, details that are to the scammers’ advantage.

not good, good things are not cheap”, more so if the deal is too good to be true.

In the case where money is involved, one not only has to think again but to think hard and think logically.

Scammers are also getting smarter, sophisticated and innovative.

For example, police busted a Macau scam syndicate last Wednesday and found them with 10,000 names and phone numbers of potential victims.

The gang also used Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) technology to hoodwink their victims into authenticating the phone numbers they called from, making it believable.

We, too, need to be extra vigilant and put on our thinking cap, knowing that the scammers would continuously change their approaches with different plots and tactics.

To stay safe, as a rule of thumb, never reveal sensitive information freely, either verbally or online, details that are to the scammers’ advantage.

Perhaps we should also revisit the basic life rules taught to us as children, which is “Don’t talk to strangers”.

Or in this case, “Don’t respond to strangers via emails, calls or other social mediums”.