A brand new day, a brand new scam.
The Royal Malaysian Customs Department has revealed that scams involving scammers posing as their officers have been pretty rampant of late.According to a notice released by the Department, which was cited by Bernama, such scams have been used to dupe victims and can cause losses of up to a couple of thousand ringgit.
The scam syndicate, according to the Department, was believed to be operated by local and foreign members.
And because we know that you probably have no money like us and you guard every single ringgit you have with your life, we've listed down the scammers' modus operandi so that you can easily identify if it's a scam or not:
- A man (or a woman) will call you from the number 1-300-735-798 or 4640-9078 and claim that they are officers from the Customs Department
- They would then inform you that you have been charged a "penalty" by the Goods and Services Tax (GST) division
- To scare you into parting with your money, they would claim that the call is a "final warning" to settle the outstanding penalty
- The scammers would then threaten you with legal action if you do not comply immediately
- Noobs who didn't read this article would then hand over their money and the scammers would then laugh their way to the bank
What do you need to do if you get a call like that?
First of all, keep calm. Try and recall if you have any official business with the Customs Department.If you do, then you're probably in trouble lah. But before you hand over your hard-earned ringgit, ask the "officers" for specifics: how much do you owe them, what is the tax for and if possible, ask for an official letter or a report reference number.
If they can't provide these details, then they are probably liars and their pants will be on fire.
But if you don't have any bussiness with the Customs Department, then just tell a small lie like you're in a meeting or you need to go to the loo and hang up the phone immediately (slam phone for dramatic effect).
Oh and also, do try not to give away your personal details, especially your IC number, passport details, your bank account password, etc.
Anytime you're in doubt, you can call the Customs Department and chat them up at 1-300-888-500.
Just remember: if you don't submit, you save your ringgit.