Don’t be deceived by scammers — Association
KOTA KINABALU: The public is reminded not to be easily deceived by fraudulent tactics used by scam syndicates, especially those claiming from enforcement authorities such as the police, customs and the Inland Revenue Board (IRB).
Sabah West Coast Smart Consumers Association in a statement said many victims believed in such calls and ended up falling into their scams.
Its president, David Chan, stressed that law enforcement will never make such calls and normally asked individuals involved to come to the police station or IRB office instead.
“From stories shared by many victims, these scammers made calls by making various allegations such as tax arrears, names used for bank loans, bank accounts used for drug activities and money laundering.
“Never believe a call like this, instead end the conversation and call the nearest police station or the relevant bank for further information,” he said.
He said no party could request bank account details, pin numbers and any other bankingrelated information from the public via phone calls or text messages.
Touching on other matters, Chan also said consumers should also be smart to identify trusted merchants through online platforms before finalising any purchase.
“Online buyers need to be more careful in making any purchases and in case of any scamming activities happened, they must be brave to come forward and lodge a report.
“Among the common online buying and selling scams include the quality of the product that is not the same as advertised, while some cases are consumers not receiving the promised goods after payment was made,” he said.
According to Chan, consumers are also advised to take advantage of their rights if deceived by online merchants, including demanding a refund or referring the case to the Consumer Claims Tribunal.
He said this after paying a courtesy call to Sabah West Coast Energy Commission director Jefrey Nuri at Wisma BSN Sabah building recently.
The purpose of this visit is to strengthen relations and cooperation between both parties. Also present were deputy president Dr Rayner Pailus and information chief Liza Din.