Malaysia via WhatsApp messages (Kuala Lumpur News on the 1st) New fraud method! The criminals pretended to be employers and instructed employees to purchase Google Play gift cards and then asked for stored-value codes to obtain the money. The police received two reports in this regard, with the loss amounting to more than RM30,000.
Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department Director Datuk Mohd Kamarudin revealed that the suspect would change the Whatsapp avatar to be the same as the target person, and then instruct the latter’s subordinates to purchase gift cards through messages.
“In two reports, the victims were alerted to the scam when they noticed that their employers’ phone numbers were different, but before that happened, they had already incurred losses of RM30,025.”
With the occurrence of the two cases, Mohd Kamaruddin called on the public to be cautious in verifying messages sent from Malaysia via WhatsApp messages and to be wary of unknown calls.
“When financial factors are involved, the public should be more cautious in determining the identity of the other party. If the public has any questions, they can contact the Police Commercial Crime Investigation Department hotline at 03-26101559/1599.”