SCAMMING is an old trick, and rightly, by now, people should know it is bad news whatever the form.
Yet, despite frequent warnings to be wary of sweet-talking strangers promising lolly scrambles, the number of people getting hoodwinked by filmflamers is on the rise.
Sarawakians are not spared. Many have lost huge sums of money to bonco and fraud or been lassoed by scamming cowboys to work as money mules, also known as money transfer agents or smurfers.
Money mules are people recruited by criminals to help transfer stolen money, either in person, through a courier service or electronically, on behalf of others.
Typically, mules are paid a small commission. They are roped in online for what they think is lawful work, unaware the money they are transferring to the scam operator, usually in another country, is black money.
We need to be vigilant. Rip-off artistes are on the prowl. The modus operandi of this species of mountebands involves using money mules’ bank accounts to cash in the deposits paid to the scammers by fraud victims. The scammers then transfer the money to another account to cover their tracks.
Once the money is in, the account will be cleared and the money put into another mule’s account. The process is possibly repeated before the money is “physically withdrawn.”
Some previously arrested foreign nationals had confessed to being hired to make such withdrawals before dropping the money off at an undisclosed location.
“It is a very intricate web,” State Commercial Crimes Investigation Department (CCID) chief Supt Mohd Firdaus Abdullah said.
In recent months, more money mules had been arrested in the state with three, including two women, hauled up just this month.
Two are jobless, one is a labourer – all under 30. They don’t earn much and are lowly educated, making them easy meat for syndicate members.
“We believe the syndicate targetted and enticed them with the offer of a commission,” Firdaus noted.
Most money mules are “unwitting” victims although some knowingly play along.
Scams can, of course, happen to anyone. In one case involving a high-ranking government official in Miri, the victim was conned
into believing he had won US$100,000 in a contest. He deposited a total of RM44,000 in a mule’s account on nine occasions over a fortnight.
Police investigation into the case led to the arrest of six persons – four from Peninsular Malaysia and two foreign nationals – with one of the latter charged in court.
Other scammed high-standing people included a former university professor who lost RM15,000 in what is known as a Macau scam and a former police officer who lost several thousand ringgit to an online scam.
With the gift of the gab, con artists “can talk a bird down the tree.” They are, by nature, convincing and persuasive but always cunning and ruthless. These are the traits to watch out for when someone tries to talk us into a deal that appears overly generous.
Naivety is usually singled out as the reason for people getting scammed. But if, on the other hand, greed is the motive, then the victims are not absolved of blame entirely. They know what they are getting into by colluding with shady syndicates.
It’s always good practice to verify information first. Following instructions blindly from strangers, no matter how well meaning they seem, is asking for trouble, especially over personal and money matters.
A word of advice from the CCID chief: “Do not open emails sent to you by unknown persons. If asked to update your bank account details via the Internet, double-check with the said bank or with the police to see if the request is authentic.”
When presented with a proposition that appears too good to be true, it pays to remember the following poem about the Spider and the Fly by Mary Botham Howitt:
Will you step into my parlour, said the spider to the fly.
Tis the prettiest little parlour that you ever did spy.
The way to my parlour is up a winding stair.
And I have many pretty things to show when you are there.
O no, no, said the little fly, to ask me is in vain.
The fly spurned the spider’s invitation twice but fell the third time for the wily arachnid’s flattering words:
Come hither, hither, pretty fly
with pearl and silver wings.
You robes are green and purple.
There’s a crest upon your head.
Your eyes are like diamonds bright.
But mine are dull as lead.
The vain fly took the bait and was ensnared.
Up jumped the cunning spider and fiercely held the fly fast.
He dragged her up his winding stair into his dismal den within his little parlour but she ne’er came out again.
Sly smiles are mostly thin and if a spider welcomes you, never trust his grin.