KUCHING: Two men have become the latest victims of loan scams.
Sarawak Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) head Supt Maria Rasid yesterday said they were scammed in separate incidents – one in Sri Aman district and another in Lundu district.
The first case involved a 26-year-old contractor from Sri Aman, who lost RM5,940.
According to Maria, the victim was said to have applied for a loan of RM80,000 online which was offered on Facebook on Nov 17, 2020.
“The victim then made arrangements with a man called ‘Robert’ through WhatsApp and told the suspect that he wished to borrow an amount of RM80,000. The victim was later told that his application had been approved but he had to make a few payments upfront for insurance and the loan proceeds would be deposited to a third-party account given by the suspect.
“The victim made payment amounting to RM5,940 through three transactions to unrecognised individual accounts between Nov 17 and Nov 20, 2020.
“The victim then became suspicious about the deal and realised that he had been cheated after the suspect requested for additional payments and yet the victim had not received any loan that was promised to him,” she said.
The second case involved a 27-year-old businessman who lost RM1,300 through a similar modus operandi, after he saw an advertisement by a company on Facebook.
“The victim saw the loan advertisement yesterday (Nov 22) on Facebook which attracted him to borrow RM2,000.
“The victim made arrangements with the company representative who was said to handle online loans.
“The victim was asked to make upfront payment for the loan processes approval. He made four transfer transactions involving an amount of RM1,300 to an unrecognised account given by the suspect.
“However, the victim felt cheated after the suspect asked for additional payment whereas he (victim) had not received any loan that was promised to him,” she said in a statement here yesterday.
Therefore, Maria urged the public to be more careful when considering to take up any loans advertised online such as on Facebook, WeChat, WhatsApp and others, as they could be fraudulent.
Meanwhile, she said a total of 273 cases of loan scams were reported in Sarawak from the beginning of this year to Nov 22, involving total losses of more than RM3.32 million compared to the same period in 2019 when 205 cases and total losses of RM2.29 million were reported.
“The public are advised to obtain loans from a licensed money lending company or a legitimate financial institution.
“For your information, a loan advertisement made by a licensed money lender over the internet must obtain an advertisement permit from the Resident’s Office.
“If the loan advertisement is made through the internet, it must contain the company logo, company name of the money lender, address and contact number of the premises and also licence number issued by the Resident’s Office,” she said.
She also said that the public are not allowed to lend or sell their bank accounts to any party, whether known or not, for the purpose of transactions.
“If the bank account is used by criminals, the owner of the account can be charged in court,” she said.
She advised members of the public who may have any doubts or have been cheated to provide information via the CCID WhatsApp or SMS at 013-2111222 or visit the official portal of the Royal Malaysia Police at rmp.gov.my, or ccid.rmp.gov.my and CCID Sarawak Facebook to get the latest information and advice on financial fraud.