A beautician in Kuala Lumpur fell victim to a scam after being deceived by a seemingly incredible deal on a used car, losing almost RM7,000 in the process. The 54-year-old, identified as Jong, came across an advertisement for a 2021 Honda CRV on Facebook in early August and expressed interest in the car, priced at only RM48,000.
Jong communicated with the seller, who identified herself as Lee and claimed to own a company in Langkawi. To persuade Jong of her authenticity, Lee even sent a photo of herself holding her identity card. As the conversation progressed, Jong mentioned that the car was to be registered under her daughter’s workplace.
Initially, Jong was asked to pay RM2,600 as a “towing deposit,” which she complied with. However, shortly after, she received another call requesting an additional RM4,170 for insurance and tax purposes. Jong paid the requested amount, still hopeful that she would eventually receive the car, despite only receiving several photos of it.
Jong disclosed, “Each time I was told to pay, ‘Lee’ would call me multiple times to ask if the money had been sent, insisting that I immediately call back once the money was deposited.” Surprisingly, both payments were made to different bank accounts with names that did not match Lee’s. The last transaction occurred on August 14.
Subsequently, Jong was asked for an additional sum of RM6,000, supposedly for an Approval Permit (AP) from the Road Transport Department. Realizing that she was being cheated, she refused to comply. In response, Lee and her alleged “boss” began threatening Jong, demanding a total of RM41,230 while harassing her daughter’s workplace with threatening messages.
Feeling overwhelmed, Jong decided to block the scammers and filed a police report. The Public Services and Complaints Department head, Datuk Seri Michael Chong, organized a press conference to address the case, stating that the scammers’ behavior in this instance was atypical.
Chong added, “Normally, scammers would move on after taking your money. However, this time they are threatening to involve loan sharks. However, we cannot confirm if these loan sharks actually exist.”
Credit: The Star : News Feed
