First it was letters and e-mail. Now, conmen are using SMS.
In the latest scam, Malaysians received SMSes in Chinese informing them that they had won hundreds and thousands of US dollars in a lucky draw.
The message reads:
“How are you? The Zhong Mei Guo Ji Mao Yi Ji Tuan is having a lucky draw in conjunction with the launch of its new product. Congratulations! Your phone number has been chosen and you have won US$198,000. Please call 008675581611153 in Shenzen, China, to claim your prize.”
The “lucky” winners who called the number in China would be told that they had two options – either fly to Shenzhen and pay US$600 (RM2,190) as “government processing fee” to claim their prize or bank the money into an account.
A 27-year-old law student in Kuchai Entrepreneurs Park was among those who received such an SMS saying she had won US$198,000 (RM722,700).
She ignored the message.
The Star then called the number in China. A woman who answered said that the “winning” numbers were computer-generated and the winners came from many countries.
However, when pressed for her name and details of her company, she began to get evasive. She even scolded the caller and hung up.
A check revealed that the company was a computer printer ink manufacturer in Shenzhen.
Federal police commercial crimes director Commissioner Datuk Ramli Yusuff said, so far, no police report had been lodged over the matter.
“We advise the public to be very careful when solicited by these people and not just blindly make decisions,” he said.
The incident follows a similar report last August, when a local lawyer was conned out of almost RM100,000 after receiving a letter telling her that she had won RM3mil in the El Gordo Spanish lottery. -theStar
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