Recently, there have been an increase in reports on scam calls and hackers taking money from members of the public.
With the rising cases of scams, many Malaysians have been extremely reluctant to picking up calls from strangers.
According to Sin Chew Daily, one of their reporters happened to encounter 2 scam calls in a week. The 2 scam calls claimed that they were allegedly from a “telecommunication company” and the “cukai tanah department” (land tax).
Why did the reporter pick up the unknown calls?
Due to a reporter’s work nature, they’re often contacted by many parties. In order to not delay any urgent matters, they would usually pick up phone calls.
The reporter said that he had gotten a call from an unknown number and when he picked up, he was told that there were bills which are unpaid. After realising that he has already paid his phone bill earlier in the month, he hung up straight away.
Unpaid land tax?
2 days later, the reporter received another call from an unknown caller. He picked it up and the scammer claimed to be from the “cukai tanah“(land tax) department.
The scammer used a robotic voice to “remind” him that he has not settled his land taxes. To “proceed” he was asked to press “9”. After he pressed 9, he was “linked” to an “officer” and she mentioned again that she was working for the land tax department.
She explained that he has unpaid taxes and requested for his IC number and full name. The reporter felt that something wasn’t right and questioned her. He asked her, “You called me saying that I’ve yet to pay my taxes, shouldn’t you have my records on file?”
She got agitated and responded back, “You wanted to be linked to an officer and now you’re being uncooperative? If you’re not going to give us the information and verify your identity, your assets will be frozen immediately.”
At this point, the reporter was aware of her malicious intends and called her out for being a scammer.
She got angry and told the reporter, “If you have the guts, stop picking up phone calls then! I’m happy for you to investigate this matter!” and hung up quickly after.
Please be vigilant of your surroundings and if you come across any suspicious calls, please hang up immediately and contact the authorities if needed.
