Death threat scam leaves MCA Youth unshaken
KAMPAR: Scammers have a new ploy – threatening their intended victims with death to extort money from them.
The unsuspecting victims will get a message or call from these “hitmen” purportedly hired to “finish them off ”, unless they pay up.
Having already heard about the scam, Perak MCA Youth secretary Daniel Wa Wai How was not surprised when he received a call from a “hired killer” at 10am on Wednesday.
The caller, speaking in Cantonese, identified himself as Ah Choy and addressed Wa by name.
He also claimed to have pictures of Wa, to know his address and the time he returned home everyday.
“Then he asked if I had offended anyone. Apparently, someone was very angry at me and had hired him,” Wa told reporters.
Not taking the bait, Wa said he was unaware of such a thing.
“I continued by saying that there was nothing I could do if someone really wanted to kill me.
“At that point, the caller became furious and started shouting, warning me that he would come find me,” added Wa, who is also Wah Loong New Village chief.
According to Wa, two other village chiefs here received similar phone calls last year.
“I was told by my wife that a friend of hers fell victim to such a scam. Fearing for his life, the person actually paid RM3,000 to the scammer,” he said.
Wa, who has lodged a police report over the matter, added that he wanted the public to be aware of the scam.
Separately, two members of the press in Ipoh also received phone messages warning them that they would be killed.
The messages were sent from the same mobile phone number at about 6pm on Wednesday.
Kampar OCPD Supt Ng Kong Soon confirmed police had received a report on the matter.
He added that they were investigating the case as criminal intimidation by anonymous communication, under Section 507 of the Penal Code.