KUALA LUMPUR: Despite having already conned a 25-year-old woman of RM2,500, scammers are continuing with their harassment to get more money from her.
According to MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong, the woman, known only as Wong, had responded to an online advert and applied for a loan in early December.
After handing over her details and pay slip for a RM10,000 loan, she received a message claiming to be from a local bank saying her credit score was too low.
She was then required to bank in RM1,000 to improve her rating for the loan to be approved.
Wong then communicated with a person, who called herself Vivian, but despite her paying up, she was again told to send more money, leading to another bank transfer of RM1,500.
“On Dec 16, she was told that the application was still pending but she cancelled the loan as she has already resolved the issue that necessitated the loan in the first place,” said Chong.
He added that the scammers then demanded a “cancellation fee” of RM1,600 which Wong refused to pay.
When she directly contacted the bank that she believed had sent her the original loan status update, she was told that it had no such application in its system.
Wong’s plight continued as the scammers then began to harass her by constantly calling her workplace.
“The calls were so numerous that it was disturbing the office and her boss terminated her employment in late December. The scammers also threatened to collect the fees from her mother,” he said.
The scammers, said Wong, had obtained her personal details when she had sent in her particulars for her “application”.
Wong said despite having lodged a police report on Dec 25, the scammers were not afraid, even threatening “legal action” against her should she fail to pay up.
During the press conference, Chong called one of the numbers linked to the scammers in front of the media.
The man on the other line responded at first, confirming that Vivian was a colleague.
However, after Chong informed him that he was calling following complaints, the person turned silent and stopped responding. Calls to the same number with another phone were unanswered.
Not long after the press conference, Vivian messaged Wong again, adamant that Chong or even “the Prime Minister” would not be able to help her.
“If you have to get a loan, do so in person at the proper financial institutions. I’m sad to see that victims are still falling for such scams despite numerous media reports,” said Chong.