I am writing this letter for two main reasons. First, to raise awareness about online scams and to encourage readers to exercise extra caution when making purchases online. Second, to express my hope for a better, functional and respectable police force who has the best interests of the people in their mind.
The much awaited durian season has now arrived and many may have come across different durian advertisements online, including on Facebook. In light of the movement control order, durian sellers have taken their business online since most physical stores are forced to shut or are subject to shorter operating hours.
While online sales offer sheer convenience as transactions can be completed without us having to leave the comfort of our house, the internet is also a fertile ground for illegal activities including scams.
I, unfortunately, fell prey to an online scam last Saturday. I came across a durian sale advertisement on Facebook and reached out to the seller to enquire about the price and products. Little did I know that I was actually communicating with a scammer. Admittedly, I had not done enough due diligence to ascertain the legitimacy of the seller.
Upon seeing that there was a decent Facebook page, I decided to place an order and transferred a few hundred ringgit from my bank account to the seller bank account, assuming that all was good. In return, I was promised that the goods will be delivered to me the next day. Till then I had no idea if anything was amiss.
The next morning, I contacted the seller through Facebook to confirm the delivery time. The seller did not respond to me despite my multiple messages. It was then I realised that something must have gone wrong.
Subsequently, I did a quick search on Google, and read a news article reporting a scam about a week ago involving the same seller with the same modus operandi. By then I was certain that I was one of the many victims, but alas the realization had come a bit too late. I immediately called the banks to report the incident, and was told that an investigation will take place.
The point that I wish to stress here is that scams are more rampant than we expect, and everyone should exercise extra caution when making purchases online. If I had taken the time to check the profile of the seller, the incident could have been averted.
Promptly after my calls to the banks, I went straight to the nearest police station, hoping that they may be of help. To my sheer dismay, I encountered a police officer who made me feel as I had myself to blame for the incident.
She even questioned my decision in coming to the police station when I should have gone to the other one in my own district. My explanation was that due to the urgency of the matter I had decided to go to the nearest station to my house to report a crime as soon as I could.
Then, to my surprise, she asserted that an emergency referred only to a life or death situation, and a scam was not an event of emergency!
However, subsequent to my further explanation, she finally agreed to take my report. As you could have surmised, this exerience with the police had been less than ideal.
I have always expected the police force to play a positive role in empowering the people and making us feel safe by bringing law offenders to justice when laypersons like us cannot do this on our own.
JT
Kuala Lumpur