Online shopping convenient, but do a check

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FOR A NOBLE CAUSE: Laura Hartini, a representative from PJSS, handing over a fire extinguisher to a village representative.

KUCHING: Customers who are into buying products online are advised to check the background of the company concerned.

State Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism (KPDNNK) deputy director Mohd Nor Musa said customers should not be gullible when it comes to products being promoted or sold on the Internet.

This was because conmen were on the prowl in cyberspace, he cautioned.

“My advice to customers who chose to buy products through the Internet is that they must be very careful because not all of them (companies) exist.

“It is very important that a proper check and investigation on the premises is carried out first before any bookings are made,” he said after attending KPDNNK and Shell Consumers’ Programme at Kampung Anah Rais in Padawan, about 65km from here, yesterday.

Mohd Nor said there had been about three cases of customers being cheated after having  booked products through the Internet.

The latest one involved a Nigerian, who used his local girlfriend’s account.

She was caught inside a bank after she tried to withdraw the money that the victim had deposited for the purchase of a `product’.

Mohd Nor said checks revealed that the bogus firm’s premises  was ‘located’ at Wisma Bapa Malaysia.

“Buying products through the Internet may be very convenient, but the people must be very careful so as not to get cheated.”

On another matter, he said KPDNNK aimed to visit 100 villages and 179 schools a year for its consumers’ awareness outreach programme.

So far, they had visited 121 schools this year.

He could not provide off-hand the number of villages visited thus far this year, but he believed the target was achievable.

Meanwhile, the highlights of the event yesterday were a fire fighting demonstration, conducted by personnel from the Fire and Rescue Department from Siburan, and the presentation of eight fire extinguishers by Petra Jaya Shell Station (PJSS).

Shell Timur Sdn Bhd Retail Territory manager Alex Pega Mahda said the donation was part of Shell’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme to assist the rural community.

It also forms part of Shell petrol stations’ key performance index.

He added that the programme had been held in Sematan and Bintulu.

Other activities held yesterday were colouring and cooking competitions.

The villagers were also taught about fire preventive measures and their rights as consumers.