A 20-year-old Malaysian student recently become a victim of a scam after attempting to convert her RM200 eBeliaRahmah eWallet credit to cash.
Contacting a Twitter user that claimed to offer a “service” of converting the eWallet credit to cash for just RM2 fee, she blindly transferred the RM200 credit to the man and ultimately lost all of the money.
As reported by BERNAMA, the victim, known as Nur, said that after transferring the credit, she received a screenshot from the scammer saying that the system was busy and he could not transfer the money to her account that night.
However, the next day, Nur realised that she was duped after finding the man’s Twitter account has been deactivated.
After Nur’s story and other similar tales arise online, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) released a statement reminding recipients of the eBeliaRahmah aid to not try to cash out the RM200 eWallet credit or transfer it peer-to-peer as the actions go against the initiative’s terms and conditions.
Instead, recipients should use the funds at over 1.7 million businesses nationwide, or to pay for services and online purchases through DuitNow. MOF further stressed that attempts to cash out the funds defeat the intended purpose of the programme.
The initiative was aimed to help youth aged 18 to 20, and full-time higher education institution (IPT) students to familiarise themselves with cashless payment facilities and at the same time, ease their financial burden.
Circling back to Nur’s case, Sinar Harian reported that the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) is currently tracing the scammer and other fraudulent parties that are using the same modus operandi.
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As of the time of writing, the police confirmed that they have received 14 reports regarding the scam syndicate targeting eBeliaRahmah recipients, amounting to RM2,800 worth of eWallet credit.
So, what do you guys think of the whole situation? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
Also read: PM: RM200 E-Wallet Aid To Be Extended To All University Students
