Watch out for the school bus scammers
Compiled by HO JIA WEN, C. ARUNO, CHARLES RAMENDRAN and R. ARAVINTHAN

SCAMMERS took advantage of the reopening of schools, preying on parents who were desperately searching for transportation for their children, Utusan Malaysia reported.

Several parents who had reached out to schoolbus services offered on social media were fleeced of their money after paying to “reserve seats” for their children.

Housewife Norfaralina Kamarul Hanim, 30, who recently moved from Kemaman, Terengganu to Seremban, Negri Sembilan, had responded to an advertisement spotted on Facebook for such services.

After exchanging text messages with an unknown individual, she was asked to make an upfront payment of RM130 to secure a seat for her child.

On making the payment via bank transfer, she was told by the individual that she would be added to a WhatsApp group and furnished with further details.

However, it was the last she heard from the person, who thereafter could not be reached despite her attempts to contact him.

Malaysian School Bus Association Alliance president Mohd Rofik Mohd Yusof said to avoid getting fleeced, parents should personally meet up with school bus or van operators when seeking their services.

“To ensure it is a legitimate schoolbus or van service and not a private vehicle, parents can verify it with the Road Transport Department,” he said.

● The above article is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.
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SCAMMERS took advantage of the reopening of schools, preying on parents who were desperately searching for transportation for their children, Utusan Malaysia reported.