Showing posts with label Scam. Show all posts

Thursday, November 21, 2024

rapped in cycle of scams, victims being retargeted over 2.5 times on average

Low digital literacy blamed for Malaysia's high victamisation rates

Stay vigilant: Victims not learning from experience is among the factors contributing to them being revictimised.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has the highest rate of online fraud revictimisation in Asia, with victims being retargeted over 2.5 times on average, according to the Asia Scam Report 2024 issued by the Global Anti-Scam Alliance.

CelcomDigi head of sustainability Philip Ling said the report also revealed that Hong Kong and Thailand ranked second and third respectively.

“There are two concerns, namely victims being repeatedly targeted by scammers and their low ability to differentiate artificial intelligence scams.

“The victims don’t learn from experience. It is concerning when they fall victim again because they lack the ability to differentiate between sources ... when contacted by authorities, they often cannot tell whether the caller is real or fake,” he said, Bernama reported.

He said this to reporters after attending the Anti-Scam Engagement Session, “It’s a Matter of When”, at the Tun Abdul Razak Broadcasting and Information Institute here, which saw the participation of over 100 staff from agencies under the Communications Ministry, including the Information Department, the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) and RTM.

Ling said the event on Monday provided participants with an opportunity to share information and advocate against crime in a manner that is clearer and easier for the public to understand.

“We need to know that scam victims do not get an adequate support system from the people around them.

“They feel scared, ashamed and unsure of where to seek help,” he said.

One of the participants, Abdul Wahid Abdul Mutallib from Bernama, said that such programmes should be expanded, particularly to the community, as they provide valuable new information and knowledge.

“This kind of programme is very good because it can raise awareness among the public, especially as we are in the age of AI,” he said.

Echoing similar sentiments, another participant Mohd Salehuddin Mohd Kidin expressed hope that more programmes focused on online fraud awareness would be organised at the grassroots level.

“Through courses like this, participants are given exposure on how to ensure that all information is accurate before making any online transaction,” he said.

Earlier, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said online fraud is one of the government’s main focuses in addressing the rise in cybercrime cases, including online gambling, cyberbullying and sexual crimes against children.

In response to this, the government has decided to implement a regulatory or licensing framework for social media and internet messaging services, effective Jan 1 next year.

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Thursday, October 3, 2024

The Economics of The Halal Scam, A Blockbuster By Sam The CEO.

The following is written by my friend Sam The CEO or Sam The Oilman.

Sunday Sermon: The Economics of The Halal Scam.

Or How to Make the Clerical and Political Class Rich on the Backs of Muslims and Make Them Poorer

My thesis: The halal concept is a bureaucratic structure made up by the clerical class initially for political power. And like any creation of political power, it was not long before it became a set of regulatory rules that induces payment, i.e. corruption, in order for the ordinary citizen to exist or make an honest living.

Think about this:

1. It creates additional cost for compliance

2. The product is actually still the same but costs more to obtain Halal approval and/or certification

There is ZERO innovation or new products created that provide either a game-changing technology or societal progress for society.

It is just extra costs for the same damn thing which such extra costs goes into the pockets of the powers that be and their cronies to line-up their pockets. That includes the civil service authorities that are employed at the expense of tax-payers with no productive value.

Repeat after me: ZERO PRODUCTIVE VALUE

The Quran never asks Muslims to set up Halal certification. You only need to assess for yourself to your own confidence whether it is halal or otherwise. There is no compulsion on you or others for halal certification. It is your call. It is FOC.

But Halal certification makes money. And in our modern economics, halal certification controls whole industries and prints money for those with the power to create and maintain such systems. And muslims become poorer for it.

The Halal Banking Scam

Don't just think about food. Take the banking and investment sector. Money is money. The source of money is the same. It flows through various industries the way water meander through rivers, oceans, up to the clouds and rain back down to earth in a cycle. There is no halal water. There is no halal money. There is only money.

None of the loan you take on syariah terms makes any sense. They still charge you interest. They just don't call it interest. The Quran forbade "usury" i.e. "making obscene profits" not interest. Instead today, any cursory review shows that syariah-compliant loans often have effectively usurious interest rates compared to non-syariah loans. But why not? Because:

1. You have now entrapped muslims into a system where they think this is the only choice for the islamic ethical system of "halal" - so charge more for this monopoly. You now can funnel muslim money based on this "ethical" conundrum.

(ps. BlackRock invented its halal investment: ESG. And they have their own halal/ESG certification ratings body)

2. Just for this certification, it will naturally cost more because the money is from the same banking system but with the halal system adding another layer of costs.

This is basically re-badging a product. Import the car from China and put the Pr*t*n logo on it and call it Halal. Charge 'em more.

Conclusion

1. The Halal System is maintained to make money for the political and clerical/authority class and their cronies. Nothing more, nothing less. But the clerics can make people stupid and don't think. So what else are we going to do? S*d*mise them as much as you can.

2. A society that is this dumb, wastes time and money on unproductive economic activities - making this and that halal, having it certified halal. None of which creates anything new. There is no innovation, creativity or even productivity. It is in fact counter-productive. It is a net negative economic sector for the population as a whole. If there is innovation - it is the innovation the way scammers innovate to scam their victims. That's about it.

Such a society cannot evolve to be a civilised and progressive society because its economic focus is on a negative productivity sector with no industrial innovation and the money goes down the drain of corruption.

There is a lesson to be learnt here somewhere. If only we think.

By Syed Akbar Ali at September 29, 2024

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Sunday, June 23, 2024

illions stolen from bank with insider help; Theft prompts security review

KUALA LUMPUR: The suspects linked to the siphoning of millions from a bank targeted their victims based on insider information, says Bukit Aman.

Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf (pic)said the group stole the money in stages after they had identified high-value account holders.

“The money was taken out via the bank counter and the first one was conducted around April. Several more were done in May and June.

“With inside help, the money was taken out according to bank procedures. The case only came to light after an account holder went to the bank to update details,” he said at a press conference yesterday.

He said it was possible that syndicate members who were working in the bank also directly facilitated the transactions.

Among those caught included a bank manager.

Investigations showed that the mastermind had expertise in forgery and the syndicate members would use forged identifications to take money out of targeted accounts.

“The details would be the same but the photo and thumbprints would be changed,” he said, adding that forged documents were then used to facilitate the money transfers.

Meanwhile, another case has been detected, with losses involving RM551,000.

“This was done at another bank earlier in the year and we are also investigating that case,” he said.

When contacted, Comm Ramli said 13 people, including four bank employees, were detained recently in connection with millions of ringgit that vanished.

Arrests were mostly made in Kota Kinabalu with one suspect caught in Padang Besar, Perlis.

The case is currently being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.

“The involvement of bank personnel in commercial crime is a very serious matter.

“In the past, we have encountered cases where bank personnel were complicit in crimes such as criminal breach of trust or embezzlement.

“There are also those who were in cahoots with theft or scam syndicates,” he said.

Comm Ramli urged financial institutions to improve their security such as tightening procedures or imposing stricter measures in regard to withdrawal from accounts.

“Such measures are necessary to prevent theft or missing funds from customers’ bank accounts.

“We feel that improvements are needed for the sake of the account holders,” he said.

From 2022 to June 15 this year, a total of 485 cases of missing funds from bank accounts have been recorded involving RM35.01mil in losses.

“From the overall statistics, this year alone we recorded RM25.76mil in losses and 65 cases.

“The highest number was 225 cases last year, but it involved only RM4.82mil, followed by 195 cases in 2022 involving RM4.42mil,” he said.

Besides the involvement of “inside men” in financial institutions, Comm Ramli said another factor that could have contributed to the missing funds was disclosure of banking details to a third party.

“Our investigations revealed that some victims might have intentionally or unintentionally revealed details of their online banking username and password,” he said.

Comm Ramli said scammers are known for using the phishing technique to dupe victims via email or text messages.

He advised the public to stay vigilant and be wary of tactics used by scammers.

Sorce link

Theft prompts security review

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PETALING JAYA: A recent embezzlement case involving bank staff in Kota Kinabalu has sparked calls for tighter security measures in financial institutions.

Universiti Sains Malaysia criminologist Datuk Dr P. Sundramoorthy (pix) said the recent case that saw over a dozen arrested was both concerning and a wake-up call.

“Although the number of wrongdoings and criminal acts by bank employees may be very minimal, it cannot be ignored.

ALSO READ: RM24.2mil fraud: BNM requests prompt refunds to all affected account holders

“The rakyat, investors and the business community depend on the banks to safeguard their money.

“We don’t have a choice in this matter.

“Banks must aggressively play a role in eliminating undesirable employees,” he said, adding that banks need to invest in internal security and loss prevention departments, even if it incurs costs.

“These departments should have the expertise to detect embezzlement, fraud and misconduct by employees,” he said.

“Security investments are assets, not liabilities.”

ALSO READ: Millions stolen from bank with insider help

Drawing comparison with law enforcement bodies, he added that employees at highly sensitive areas should be rotated to avoid any potential for leakages within the bank, even if they are competent in their jobs.

“This is especially important for positions with access to customer accounts,” he said.

Pre-employment screening must also be done for all employees with regular assessments for those in service, he added.

Duties must also be “robustly” segregated, with dual authorisation practices implemented as well.

“That was a substantial amount of money (lost) and I hope measures will be taken.

“Since it was an inside job, the bank must be responsible for covering every single ringgit and sen that was misappropriated.

“Banks must be proactive and they should work together with the victims and law enforcement to ensure such incidents are reported.

“Employee pilferage is not new but it is also not frequent. We must not tolerate it,” he said, adding that harsh penalties and criminal charges must be meted out on those involved.

Such cases, he said, also affects the credibility of the bank involved as customer confidence will drop.

Previously, Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said that four police reports were lodged since early June regarding suspicious transactions, with losses estimated to be around RM24.2mil.

As of June 18, the police have arrested 13 suspects aged between 22 and 52 years old.

Four suspects were found to be employees of the bank.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/06/22/theft-prompts-security-review

BLACK SHEEP IN BANKS, Employees you cannot bank on, Calls for banks to bolster cyberdefences

Weed out the problematic, errant, incompetent officers early

Sunday, March 12, 2023

Investors duped by fake mutual funds firm lose almost everything

The Star on Twitter: "Investors duped by fake mutual funds firm ...

KUALA LUMPUR: She wanted to grow her retirement nest, so she placed about RM500,000 with an agent to be invested in mutual funds.

“I trusted the agent because we had signed an agreement,” said the retiree who only wanted to be known as Lee.

ALSO READ: International investment scam syndicate mastermind remanded

It all seemed legitimate, she said, adding that all she wanted was to have a comfortable life in her twilight years.

But now, she wonders if she would ever see her money again. “The company I invested in cited the pandemic as the reason for not paying dividends to investors.”

Lee was among 105 victims who lodged police reports against the company at the Sentul district police headquarters here yesterday.

Another victim, Siti, said she had invested RM300,000 in 2019 after she was promised 30% returns in one year.

ALSO READ: Over 300 victims lose RM100mil to investment scam, police reports lodged against firm

She said that she felt assured when the agent cited names of VVIPs and prominent politicians.

“I did not know it was a scam because they showed me approval letters from government agencies.”

By 2020, Siti still had not received any dividends.

“When I tried to follow up on this, the company did not even respond to my queries,” she added.

In view of the silence, Siti said she approached the Malaysia International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO) where she discovered others in the same situation.

Another victim, a Yemeni national, said he was approached by a “relationship manager” of a supposed bank.

“The relationship manager convinced me that it was a good and safe investment with 10% guaranteed returns,” he said, adding that he invested RM330,000 in the scheme which involved sukuk and seafood.

MHO secretary-general Datuk Hishamuddin Hashim said the victims were involved in five types of investments offered by a marketing management company.

He said they were lured into putting their money into supposed trust funds, shares, and sukuk, among others.

These investors were promised that they would get profits ranging from 15% to 24%, depending on their capital and investment period, he told reporters yesterday.

MHO advisor Tan Sri Musa Hassan suggested the government draft a law to deal with fraud including stock investments to prevent more people from becoming victims.

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Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Top spammers and scammers in Malaysia by anti-spam mobile app Truecaller

Truecaller: The world's best Caller ID & Spam Blocking app

If you’ve been getting a flood of automated phone calls lately about outstanding traffic summonses or a parcel delivery you know nothing about, here’s the likely reason.

Statistics from an anti-spam mobile application show that over the past 12 months, Macau, parcel and other scam syndicates have been making more calls to trick Malaysians into handing over money.

Truecaller – which claims to have 150 million daily active users worldwide – said there has been a 24% jump in the average number of spam calls received by its one million users in Malaysia this year compared to 2018.

The mobile app, which has offices in Sweden, the United States and India, said it has helped users in Malaysia identify and block 90 million spam calls so far this year, typically from telemarketers offering telecommunications, insurance and credit card products and services.

Scam calls are a form of fraudulent activity with the goal of stealing the victim’s money.

Last year, scam calls – including those by Macau Scam syndicates – made up a mere 1% of spam calls received by the app’s Malaysian users.

This year, the figure has ballooned to a whopping 63%, according to the Truecaller Insights 2019 report.

The Macau, parcel and “Astro” scams are among the top scams in the country over the past year, the report noted. The modus operandi of a Macau Scam is by impersonating someone with authority, such as a policeman or a bank officer, and convince the victims over the phone that they need to pay money to avoid trouble.

For parcel scams (which are also sometimes referred to in Malaysia as love scams), the scammer would strike up a relationship with the victims online, and then convince them to send money so that a parcel said to contain a valuable gift for the victim can be “released by authorities”.

In the Astro scam, someone impersonating a representative from the satellite TV provider would call a potential victim to deliver a warning.

“Input we’ve gotten is that they would say you have an unpaid bill and that needs to be paid right away, otherwise you’ll be reported for it, ” a Truecaller representative said.

The report’s findings are reflected in official figures on losses suffered by the victims.

Police statistics show that of the five currently active syndicated commercial crime cases this year, investment scams took the number one spot, recording the biggest losses at RM200.78mil, with Macau Scam in second and parcel scams third.

On Nov 12, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Mohd Azis Jamman said 1,911 Malaysians lost RM94.04mil to Macau Scam this year, while 1,303 lost RM67.74mil to parcel scams.

According to the Truecaller report, Malaysia is the mobile app’s 19th most spammed country. In first place is Brazil, where Truecaller users receive an average of 45.6 unsolicited calls a month, followed by Peru (30.9), Indonesia (27.9), Mexico (25.7) and India (25.6).

While Malaysia may not be the most spammed country it does hold another unsavoury record.

“Analysing this year’s data, we can see that Malaysia is the market that receives the biggest percentage of scam calls in the world, ” the report said.

Malaysia is trailed by Australia (60%), Lebanon (49%), Canada (48%), and South Africa (39%). The police have a Facebook account, Cyber Crime Alert Royal Malaysia Police (https://www.facebook.com/CyberCrimeAlertRMP/) to warn the public about scams.

A web portal set up by the police, http://ccid.rmp.gov.my/semakmule, allows people to verify telephone numbers and bank accounts that could be used for scamming.

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Spam calls up by nearly a quarter in Malaysia: anti-spam mobile app Truecaller

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has seen a 24% rise in the number of unsolicited (spam) calls this year which includes those from Macau Scam syndicates, according to anti-spam mobile application Truecaller.

Truecaller - which claims to have 150 million users worldwide – said its one million daily active users in Malaysia received more than 90 million spam calls so far this year that the app managed to block.

"Over the past 12 months Malaysia has seen a 24% increase of spam calls, going from 6.7 spam calls per month to 8.3," the Truecaller Insights 2019 report said.

The report said Malaysia ranked 19th among Truecaller market countries in terms of the number of spam calls. Brazil tops the list, with Truecaller users in the country getting an average of 45.6 spam calls this year.

In second place is Peru (30.9), followed by Indonesia (27.9), Mexico (25.7) and India (25.6).

Spam calls are divided into several categories which include scam calls such as those by the Macau, parcel and "Astro scam" syndicates.

Other types of spam calls include those by telemarketers offering telecommunications, insurance and credit card products and services.

The MO for a Macau scam is that the scammer would impersonate someone with authority such as a policeman or a bank officer over the phone and convince the victim that they need to pay money to avoid trouble.

For parcel scams (which are also sometimes referred to in Malaysia as love scams), the scammer would strike up a friendship or relationship with the victim online and then convinces them to send money or entice the victim with a parcel delivery.

In the "Astro scam", someone impersonating a representative from the satellite tv provider would call to warn the potential victim of a supposedly unpaid bill which needs to be settled immediately to prevent a report from being lodged.

The Truecaller report noted that Malaysia is the top country where the biggest percentage of unsolicited phone calls comprises of scam calls.

"Analysing this year’s data, we can see that Malaysia is the market that receives the biggest percentage of scam calls in the world.

On Nov 12, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Azis Jamman said 1,911 Malaysians lost RM94.04mil to Macau scams this year while another 1,303 lost RM67.74mil to parcel scammers.

The Truecaller report said that other than Malaysia, other top countries with the highest percentages of scam calls include Australia (60%), Lebanon (49%), Canada (48%) and South Africa (39%).

The police have a Facebook account, Cyber Crime Alert Royal Malaysia Police to warn the public about scams, as well as a portal for people to verify telephone numbers and bank account numbers that could be used by syndicates carrying out such scams.

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Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Risky business of overseas ‘jobs’ , Don’t get conned, Malaysians warned !

Scam Job Offers: How to determine if a job offer is scam

The promise of lucrative salaries are luring many Malaysians abroad but most are scams leaving these job seekers cheated and in need of rescuing.

The promise of lucrative salaries are luring many Malaysians abroad but most are scams leaving these job seekers cheated and in need of rescuing.

IT is ironic that at the same time there is an ongoing crackdown on illegal immigrants in the country, Malaysians are being detained in countries like Cambodia, South Korea and even Liberia.

These detentions have increased in frequency to the extent that Wisma Putra has issued a warning to “remind all Malaysians to be cautious of opportunities offered in foreign countries, and always verify the prospective employers”.

It used to be that foreigners (read: South Asians and South-East Asians) were drawn to Malaysia’s booming property and service sectors for better paying jobs.

They still are. On Monday, as part of operations codenamed Ops Mega 3.0, some 73 illegal immigrants, from Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, were held by the police under the Immigration Act. These foreigners were working at the Selangor wholesale market without proper work documents.

But how times have changed. The roles appear to be reversed, the Malaysians that have been detained overseas were for exactly similar offences – no proper work documents.

This time last year, The Star’s Bahasa Malaysia news portal mStar Online revealed that there was an estimated 5,000 Malaysians working and staying illegally in South Korea. The less fortunate ones were forced to live like refugees, always on the run from the authorities.

These Malaysians were lured by job advertisements that claimed they could earn a lucrative living in the land of K-pop. They paid recruitment agents thousands of ringgit in fees and entered South Korea with tourist visas.

Some of these Malaysians interviewed by mStar spoke about the hardships they faced including poor living conditions, tough working environment and employers holding back their salaries.

The Korean police and its justice ministry have begun cracking down on these illegals, starting from last month. Those without proper documentation will be immediately deported.

But Malaysians never learn. Two recent cases highlight the need for employees to be more vigilant and for the authorities to crack down on fly-by-night recruitment agents.

First, the case of the 47 Sarawakians who were detained in Cambodia since Dec 11 last year on charges of cheating and initiating and carrying out illegal online gambling activities.

It was reported that the Malaysians were promised jobs with lucrative salaries up to US$1,500 (RM6,100), and only found out that it was a scam when they arrived in Cambodia.

Their plight was highlighted in local media, and Wisma Putra, other leaders and representatives from Sarawak flew to Cambodia to secure their release. They were finally released on Feb 15.

The second recent case also involved Sarawakians. Eight of them were left stranded in Monrovia, Liberia, since Feb 4 after being offered logging jobs with wages up to RM9,000.

They were left stranded in the African nation without any money, and managed to survive because they were given rice by Malaysians working with Sime Darby in Liberia.

“If not for the rice, we would definitely be dead,” said Aji Surau, 39, after arriving at KL International Airport on March 4, one month after their ordeal.

He said they were abandoned in a house with no water and electricity and even resorted to eating papaya leaves to survive.

All these cases have one thing in common – dodgy job syndicates.

These unscrupulous agents rake in thousands of ringgit by promising the world to gullible locals.

“I want to advise Malaysians to be cautious when getting job offers overseas because this is not the first such incident.

“Check with the authorities concerned, especially the Malaysian representatives, whether the company offering the job is legitimate or not,” Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah told reporters after the Liberian detainees were released.

The Cambodia and Liberia incidences appear to be genuine cases of people who were promised legitimate work contracts. But for every genuine case, there are five others who play the “victim” card.

In some countries where Malaysians are caught working illegally, they claimed that they were lured there with guarantees of proper employment with legal documentation. But the reality is that these people went overseas on tourist visas with the sole intention of getting a job, by whatever means.

Did you know that Malaysians are the worst visa abusers when it comes to overstaying in Australia?

According to a 2018 report from the Australian Department of Home Affairs, there were 62,000 people overstaying their visas and living illegally in Australia, with Malaysians making up the largest number. Between 2016 and 2017 alone, 10,000 Malaysians had overstayed!

As a result of this blatant abuse of tourist visas, the Australian authorities have made it harder for Malaysians to enter the country.

Australian-based news site news.com.au quoted a source from the Malaysian mission in Australia as saying that more Malaysians are being turned away at the airports, despite having the necessary visas approved before departure.

These visa scams are not only giving us a bad name, but also making it more difficult for genuine Malaysian tourists to visit Australia.

The latest “tourist” scam is via social media where syndicates are luring people to become drug mules by offering them cash and opportunities to go for tours abroad. But beware, if you’re caught deportation is the least of your problems. A stiff jail sentence or even the death penalty awaits.

By Brian Martin On your side

Brian Martin

Brian Martin, executive editor of The Star, would like to come clean. He has vested interest in the proposed assessment rate hike since he’s a resident of Kuala Lumpur.

Don’t get conned, Malaysians warned

Labour Dept: Only use services of licensed private recruitment companies

From “interviews” in coffeeshops to being persuaded to work in war-torn countries with lucrative salaries, Malaysians are being increasingly conned into travelling to work overseas, only to run into trouble.

This has prompted the Labour Department to advise those wishing to work overseas to only use the services of licensed private recruitment companies.

Seeking the services of licensed private job agencies under the Labour Department as provided in the Private Employment Agencies Act (1981) would help one avoid being conned or exploited by unscrupulous agents or employers overseas, it said.

“There’s a possibility that high salaries offered has become a pull factor in enticing Malaysians to work overseas.

“The Labour Department is always carrying out enforcement activities under the Private Employment Agencies Act (1981) to monitor the activities of illegitimate agencies and agents,” it said in response to questions by The Star.

The Labour Department, which is under the Human Resources Ministry, was responding to queries about the increasing media reports highlighting Malaysians being conned in overseas jobs.

While the Labour Department said it did not have any records on the numbers of overseas job scam cases affecting Malaysians, it encourages those with information on such cases to come forward.

“We have not received reports on job scams. However, victims can file a report with the Labour Department, including in Sabah and Sarawak for any job scams issues so that we can act accordingly,” it said.

MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong said many of the job scam victims he encountered were enticed to work in African or Middle Eastern countries.

“Many of these countries are war-torn and so these ‘employment agents’ would tell the victims there is a lot of construction work to rebuild the country.

“These victims are mostly semi-skilled or unskilled workers who are attracted to the salaries which are supposedly from RM6,000 to RM10,000 a month,” he said.

However, he said, these victims were then cheated out of their salaries and left with little to no protection in a foreign country.

To stop these scams from occurring, he urged those interested to find work to carry out background checks on the company.

“You must make sure that there is an incorporated company so if anything happened to you, there is a company we could look for,” he said.

He also advised people to be wary if the salary offered is too good to be true, or if the job interview doesn’t take place in the company’s office.

“There are some ‘interviews’ which are even being conducted in coffeeshops,” said Chong.

He said he noticed more of such cases in recent years, especially as many Malaysians want to go overseas to eke out a livelihood.

Last December, 47 Malaysians were detained in Cambodia for being involved in illegal online gambling activities.

It was reported that they were offered jobs with lucrative salaries but had only found out that it was a scam when they arrived in Cambodia.

In February, eight Sarawakians were stranded in Liberia after allegedly being cheated by an employment syndicate.

The Malaysian Employers Federation called for a dedicated government agency to help protect the welfare of Malaysians who go overseas to work.

Its executive director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan said this was to prevent them from being exploited and falling prey to illegal job syndicates.

“We have more than one million Malaysians working overseas but we have no proper body to monitor their affairs,” he said yesterday.

He noted that the Filippine government would ensure that their citizens who are sent overseas to work are properly trained and that they are employed by a legitimate company.

“The Filipino government would ensure that there is a proper document signed between the employer and agent, and if anything happens to the worker, the agent will be held responsible.

“We should emulate the Philippines to help our workers who aspire to work overseas,” he said.

However, he said the grim reality was that many Malaysian workers were enticed to work overseas because of the attractive pay, even if the details surrounding the employment were unclear.

“Employees are attracted to the higher wages offered in those countries, where the income promised triple or even quadruple what they are earning in Malaysia – and most of these jobs do not require high level of skills such as picking fruit.

“A difficult economic situation in Malaysia with the rising costs of living also contribute to the problem.

“We must re-look at our employment practices, how we remunerate our employees and develop our talent,” he said.

Malaysian Trades Union Congress secretary-general J. Solomon agreed that better policies and enforcement were needed to monitor the outflow of Malaysian workers to other countries.

“The authorities and their relevant agencies need to know where Malaysian workers are going when they travel overseas,” he said.

He said tighter enforcement was especially needed as more false job advertisements were disseminated easily on various social media platforms.

“It is high time the Cabinet review and encourage companies to comply with minimum wage level,” he said.

The low wages in Malaysia and the stigma of 3D (dirty, dangerous and difficult) jobs cause Malaysians to desperately seek employment outside the country, he added.

“These factors are causing Malaysians to go elsewhere to find alternative sources of income,” he said.

By Fatimah zainal and Clarissa Chung The Star

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