Lonely, elderly among those vulnerable to scams
Talk highlights too-good-to-be-true loves, investments and sales

Those feeling lonely or people who have retired can be susceptible to falling prey to scams, warns the police.

Some have even lost their retirement savings to scam syndicates because they lack cybersecurity awareness.

Asst Supt Rahmat Fitri Abdullah, from Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department, said those unaware of cybersecurity risks and lacked interaction with family members, tended to be more gullible.

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“They are lured mostly through investment or love scams,” ASP Rahmat said at Petaling Jaya City Council’s (MBPJ) Information and Communications Technology Safety and Awareness Programme at MBPJ Civic Centre in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

A case was recently highlighted to Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng of a senior citizen losing RM2mil in a cryptocurrency investment scam.

Scammers target senior citizens they perceive as lacking cyber security knowledge.

“I get at least one or two reports a month of seniors getting scammed online.

“Some take place through social media advertisements while others involve clicking on pop-ups that appear as people play games online,” said Lim.

“Scammers also use links to fake news, high-return investment schemes, foreign exchange trading and cryptocurrency.”

In the case of Ricky (not his real name), a well-educated retired businessman, he was drawn to an advertisement which appeared while playing an online game.

Ricky, who is in his 70s, learnt about a cryptocurrency course from the advertisement and subsequently enrolled.

After attending the course, he invested some money and initially, saw good returns, prompting him to invest even more.

Scammers rely on social media to find victims.

Ricky invested RM1mil from his savings and borrowed money to take his investment total to RM2mil.

“He sold his entire cryptocurrency portfolio just before Chinese New Year in hopes of reaping a huge profit.

“However, the company refused to return any money to him and proceeded to block his phone number.

“Realising that it was a scam, he filed a police report,” said Lim.

Duped by love

Elsewhere in Klang Valley, a 60-year-old retired nurse was ensnared in a love scam.

Social activist and philanthropist Kuan Chee Heng said the nurse’s children had asked for his help to convince their mother that she had been scammed.

“The widow lived on her own and had met someone online who claimed to be a pilot from the United Kingdom.

“The children saw that she had transferred RM200,000 to this unknown pilot and now wanted to sell a piece of land.

“The elderly woman did not believe her children or me when we tried to explain the situation.

“She scolded me for saying she was scammed and said I did not understand love.

Always go directly to the website of the related government agency to check the authenticity of any announcement instead of clicking on links.

“I am sure she lost more money after that,” said Kuan.

He said the root of the problem was greed and gullibility.

Kuan added that seniors tended to be more easily duped by investment scams, based on complaints he received.

Elderly women and men fell prey to love scams because of loneliness, stressed ASP Rahmat.

“Scammers gain victims’ trust by posing as people in positions of authority, such as navy officers, and befriend them via social media.

“The victims will have never met the scammer in person.

“As the victims usually live alone and their children or relatives rarely check on them, scammers are able to convince the elderly to part with their money and keep the transaction a secret,” he said.

Keep friends, family close

ASP Rahmat urged the public to check on their parents often to prevent them from communicating with potential scammers out of loneliness.

“The love scam is the hardest to resolve because it is very difficult to convince the victim that they have been scammed.

“Share useful social media pages on cyber security to educate the elderly about online threats,” he said.

He reminded folk to never pay money nor receive gifts from people who had befriended them online.

“Any relationships that are fostered purely online is highly suspicious and it is good to always keep your trusted friends or family members in the loop,” he said.

ASP Rahmat said scammers also shared links on social media through chat groups.

“The chat group is usually filled with scammers posing as people who have benefitted from investments made.

“These scammers have more than 10 phones each, so do not be fooled by online testimonies.

“When you see too-good-to-be-true investment schemes, stay away because these are always scams,” he said.

He added that all “Emas Lelong” (gold auction) advertisements were also scams.

Those who are lonely can be easy prey for cybercriminals.

“Why would anyone sell their gold for less than the market value?

“Gold is always sold at the current market price or higher.

“Be careful of advertisements on social media or chat applications using words such as ‘dana’, scheme, plan, ‘duit wasiat’, ‘duit sultan’ or ‘duit raja’, as these are mostly scams,” he said.

ASP Rahmat also warned about fake links from “government bodies”.

“These have spelling errors or words that you can’t read.

“Always check official websites for announcements.

“Advertisements using a photo of religious figures or someone dressed in a pious manner tend to attract the rural crowd.

“Always observe if the person contacting you is following standard operating procedures.

“Those using personal mobile numbers and claiming to be government officers or bankers are scammers.

“If you are in doubt, use the land line to call the authorities they claim to represent,” he said.

ASP Rahmat urged people not to make online deposit payments, including for house rental, to people they had never met in person.

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“Always meet someone in person and make the payment.

“Information from businesses can be stolen by scammers who then recreate the legitimate business’ website and dupe buyers into making a deposit on the fake site.

“So, the business page may look legitimate but it is using a stolen business identity,” he said.

For phone scams that scare the elderly into thinking they have committed an offence, ASP Rahmat advised folk to just hang up and go to the nearest police station to clarify matters.

He said government agencies did not connect people on the phone to another agency.

“Scammers can claim they are from the income tax department or postal service and fake a call transfer to fake police personnel.

“Never entertain these calls or give your details.

“Go to the police if you are in doubt.”

In some cases, ASP Rahmat said scammers called seniors daily as a form of mind control, with some doing so over six months, until all the money had been transferred from the victim to the culprit.

“The scammer will first ask the victim not to disclose their conversation to anyone and get the victim to create a new bank account using a phone number given by the scammer.

“The money in the new account will then be controlled by the scammer while the victim will have no idea that the money has been siphoned out,” said ASP Rahmat.

Scam victims are advised to call the National Scam Response Centre at 997 to report their case.

The public is urged to check suspicious phone numbers online via ccid.rmp.gov.my

For details on commercial crime, visit www.facebook.com/JSJKPDRM
cyber security,MBPJ
Those feeling lonely or people who have retired can be susceptible to falling prey to scams, warns the police.