SIBU: Consumers are advised not to surrender their credit cards willingly to unscrupulous traders engaging in ‘scratch and win’ scheme.
The advice came from Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism (MDTCC) Sibu branch deputy chief Geoffrey Gumalang.
“Once in their hands these unscrupulous traders may swipe a substantial amount from the card without the owner knowing it,” he disclosed of the modus operandi.
He did not discount the possibility that some buyers might be confused or taken in by the ‘sweet’ words of these businessmen to surrender their cards.
“The traders’ modus operandi involved luring unsuspecting customers with free gifts or ‘scratch and win’ tactics and later imposed conditions to claim their gifts or winnings,” he said, noting that these offences commonly involved sales of electrical goods.
As such, he cautioned that cancellation of transaction may be a hassle later, adding that there was a likelihood that these traders may not entertain the customers’ request.
Even, if the transaction was successfully cancelled, buyers will still be at risk of paying the bank interest.
“However, in the event the trader still refuses to do so, we advise the buyer to bring the receipt to our office for us to take necessary actions,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday.
He warned that the ministry would not hesitate to mete out tough actions against errant traders for misleading consumers, reiterating that the compound could be quite substantial.
“In fact, we have taken actions against several traders here recently for flouting the Consumer Protection Act 1999.
“It is an offence to mislead consumers and actions can be taken against errant traders,” the deputy chief cautioned.
To consumers, Geoffrey advised them to buy products that they deemed only necessary and not be tempted to overspend.
On another matter, he assured the people that there was ample supply of essential items for the coming Christmas celebration.
Nevertheless, he said the ministry was keeping tabs on prices of essential items.
In this regard, the public should not engage in panic buying of essential items such as sugar as this could trigger artificial shortage, he said.