It seems that these scammers just won’t give up and every day, they try to come up with new schemes just to cheat us out of our hard-earned money. Recently, this Malaysian man, Joseph Lim shared his encounter where he almost fell victim to some really convincing scammers who actually knew so much about him that they managed to take up over two hours of his time. Wow, that’s a long duration!
Source: FMT
In his post on Facebook, he had apparently received a call from someone who claimed that they were from the Johor Bahru High Court asking him why he didn’t show up at court. Puzzled, he asked them for clarification and they told him that someone had been using his IC to open a company in Johor Bahru and they even had all his details from the IC as well as the information of the alleged company in Johor Bahru, complete with SSM number.
After that, Joseph spoke to a high court officer known as Alex Yong, who said that it was a serious case and he needed to lodge a formal report but was required to be at the police station in Johor Bahru to do so. Seeing as he lives in the Klang Valley, he refused to make his way there and the officer transferred him to someone who said they were from the Johor Bahru Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM).
Source: Facebook
“Turns out, that line can only be used for emergency reports. He asked me if I could call them back. They also told me to search online to ensure that the number that I am dialling is legitimate. I made a quick search online and found that the number, 07-2254422 really belongs to PDRM in Johor Bahru.”
Joseph was connected with a Sergeant Yong and it all sounded quite real with recording sounds. The sergeant even asked him questions that were really convincing. “There’s a bank account opened in JB using my IC and the account has apparently been used for money laundering and funding drug activities. Suddenly his voice became really stern and he asked me if the account was mine and if I knew of/had any businesses with a man by the name of Tan Wei Long? I answered no and immediately made a quick check online. Turns out, dude has been laundering money. Extremely convincing so far.”
Source: Mole
Although the whole conversation was conducted in Mandarin, the officer was very helpful and kind until he said that he would need to transfer Joseph to his superior. Sergeant Yong played his part really well by telling Joseph that there had been an operation to crack down on money laundering activities and told Joseph not to reveal any personal information over the phone such as bank account numbers.
“He also made me understand that if I do not give full cooperation, they will freeze my bank accounts and assets for 24 months and will remand me for questioning up to 45 days if I did not explain the situation well to his superior, Tuan Fauzi. However, when I was connected to ‘Tuan Fauzi’, he did not accept my explanation and shouted at me. I had been handling this issue for the past 90 minutes and was feeling confused and emotionally drained.”
Source: Malta Today
Joseph said that following the conversation with Tuan Fauzi, Sergeant Yong started shouting at him as well and tried to scare him by saying that Joseph would be arrested with no one taking care of his family and wife. He was so convincing that Joseph felt like he could trust Sergeant Yong and asked him for another chance to prove his innocence.
Two hours in, Joseph was finally connected to Tuan Herman Wong who told him, “I need you to understand that the court order will be fully operational by 5pm today. All your assets will be frozen and we’ll remand you in 72 hours.” Emotionally exhausted, Joseph texted his senior pastor while he was on the phone with Herman.
The penny dropped when Herman said that Joseph needed to transfer money to a bank account number so that an auditor from the National Audit Department could perform an Express Audit on his funds. Wow, really? At the same time, Joseph’s senior pastor told him it was a scam and asked him to quickly end the call.
Source: mStar
“I immediately put down my phone and sat down on my bed. I can’t believe that I wasted two hours of my life on this. I know I would never have transferred the money to a personal account but the emotional rollercoaster this ordeal put me through is unbelievable.”
“I am usually very wary and vigilant when it comes to scam calls. But this one is next level! The way they coerced, manipulated emotions and threatened me. This is just next level organized crime. It has been extremely painful emotionally for me. Stay vigilant, friends.”
Many netizens who saw his post also shared similar experiences and some of them sympathised with him, saying that these scammers were so good at playing with your emotions, it was almost like a Korean drama.
Be alert and wary because scammers are getting more cunning these days!
Also read: M’sian Warns Others About Storing Bank Info Online After Getting Scammed Thousands of RM
