Be Careful - Scammers are trying to cheat!

There are many scams nowadays. People losing money through scam calls, scam sms, scam whatapps, scam bank links, scam bank hotlines, scam jobs/ vacancies, scam investments and many more. Victims lose money from very little to millions and millions. Many people think that victims of scams who lose their money are due to their own greed for lucrative offers, quick money, cheap sales, etc. But this is only partially true. It’s not true that people are scammed only by cheap ads or due to greed alone. I offer you some thoughts on this scam issue as below. 

1.There are ads in FB that sell watches, clothes, underwear, furniture and fittings, other household items that are not ready cheap. People go there to buy things. Before you make payment, all your enquiries will be answered, but once payment is done, the goods are not delivered and all subsequent enquiries will be ignored. All your payment data (including banking data) will be taken from there and your bank or card accounts will be at risk in future, even though the order for the goods is small amount.

2. There are also job vacancies in FB and other social media that are not genuine. People go here to find jobs but end up being scammed. Some of these jobs do not entice people with lucrative offers, but are nonetheless scams. You can know it’s scam when they don’t provide the job details, company name and merely ask the applicants to whatapps to a certain phone number to enquire.

3. It was recently reported of a person who was scammed from his investment in online shares. There was this ad in FB on bursa shares study group. Apparently you join it for share analysis and insights, which you can use for your own investments. The ad does not promise any profits or mention any investment platforms. What happened was he was given a investment platform to invest. He did make profits but when he wanted to sell it to withdraw his money, his account was frozen for no reason. It all turned out to be a scam. Read about it in this link - https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2023/10/29/kuching-man-loses-rm160000-to-online-investment-scam

4. Use mobile bank apps only to receive the OTP, but not for any transactions. Instead use a laptop or computer for the online banking transaction. This is much safer. I really do not agree with leaving the bank app on the phone, because if your phone is lost, your banking account will also be at risk of illegal access. It is easier to hack a phone than to hack on internet banking on a PC/Laptop. 

5. Delete all mobile bank apps and e-wallets from your phone if you hand it to a phone repairer for any services.

6. Be careful of your ATM card because it’s also a debit card whereby online purchases can be made, esp when your CCV is known to others (can be your so-called “trusted” relation or friends) that helps you to withdraw money. Debit cards are also risky since you can wave it at the payment counters (unless you disable this feature at the bank).  If lost, anyone who finds your card can use it immediately, subject to your daily limit. If the card becomes lost, quickly report to the bank to disable it.

7. I came to learn that scammers can even copy a person's voice and video of a person and talk to you as if the person is "live" (in the case of making a live video call). Sometimes you want to check if it is really the person who had messaged you to request you to make a money transfer to him/her, and so you make a video call to the person. During the call, you can see the person talking to you, and so you think it is really genuine. Thereafter you transfer your money to the person. Unfortunately, the voice and image are fake and had been done through sophisticated software (such as Deepfake and AI - artificial intelligent systems) and apps that can copy your images and videos from your various social media platforms, and create this "live" talking images of people you know to scam you. Be careful of unscrupulous people copying your photos and videos in your social medias. 

8. If possible, do not simply scan on QR codes unless absolutely no choice. This is because the security standards for QR codes are weak. I heard the codes can contain secret codes to illegally track your phone touch-screen. In other words, the scammer will know your passwords and pin numbers that you use on your phones. 

SOME SUGGESTIONS

FB and other social media or others often said that they are not able to verify if the advertisers are scammers or not. They cannot give this reason as excuse. They are things they are able to do. For example, they should receive all the relevant company or individual documents, including ICs, company registration document, details of their directors or shareholders, their bank accounts, phone contact numbers that are verified, etc. Make sure the advertisers know that these supporting documents will be handed to the authorities if there is any reports from the public and users of the social media or internet. They can also set up task force to check on these advertisements by pretending to be buyers or job seekers. Facebook earns revenue every time people click on the ads. So it is absolutely unacceptable that they earn revenue on scam advertisements! Victims lose money, but they earn?? Ridiculous, isn’t it?

Also I would urge the telcos to form a unified hotline for victims of scam or scam calls to notify these telcos. This is to enable them to immediately check which telco the phone number is registered under and the scammers can be immediately identified. The owners of the numbers can be handed over to the authorities. The numbers can be immediately blocked.

So, the above are a few things about scammers that people should watch out for. Be careful not to get cheated. They are the present-day armies of Mara. Ultimately, even if the authorities are unable to take any action, the scammers will be unable to escape from the terrifying karma that awaits them. There is NO ESCAPE for SCAMMERS!

#scammers #facebook #socialmedia

Read more about risk management here - https://buddha-and-me.blogspot.com/2011/01/importance-of-financial-governance-in.html