Segamat.com

From Johor Streets
2010/04/07

THE public is advised to be cautious in light of several short messaging service (SMS) scams reported in the Segamat district since January. To date, Segamat district police here have so far received 14 reports with about RM25,000 in losses from unsuspecting victims who fall for such cyber scams.

District police chief Superintendent Abdul Majid Mohd Ali said the victims were mainly consisted of retirees and those who are easily tricked duped into believing that they had won prizes from SMS contests. “Police have received 14 reports from January to March. The latest case involved a man in his 30s who was conned into parting with RM3,000 after he gave away his Internet banking password to the group,” he said during a press conference in Segamat recently.

Majid revealed that the group, believed to be part of an international SMS scam syndicate, would send out SMSes randomly to unsuspecting victims with promises of cash rewards of up to thousands of ringgit. “Typically, the victim will contact a given number whereby the syndicate members will then request that the victim reveal his Internet banking password on the pretext of banking in cash. “However, the syndicate members will make withdrawals from the victim’s account.”

As part of the syndicates’ modus operandi, Majid said the members were fond of using several “big name” corporations in an attempt to influence their victims. Initial investigations revealed that the mobile phone number used by the syndicate belonged to a senior citizen who might have lost his personal documents. Majid also said police, with the help of Interpol, learnt that the syndicate made the illegal transfers in Indonesia and Romania to avoid detection from the authorities.