By Karen Bong
KUCHING, Jan 26: Sarawak United Peoples’ Party Public Complaints Bureau (SUPP PCB) chief Milton Foo has cautioned the public not to engage or participate in dubious e-commerce platforms after a 35-year-old businessman suffered a substantial loss of nearly RM100,000 as a seller.
The incident unfolded when the victim received a message written in Chinese on Jan 9 via WhatsApp from an unknown individual using the mobile number 017-3837633. The message prompted the man to register and click on a provided link (www.asiazon.com).
Upon clicking the link, he was redirected to a fraudulent ‘Ozon’ website, where he unwittingly filled in his personal details, including two banking accounts.
“He became a seller on the e-commerce platform, which traded in US dollars (USD). Under this arrangement, he was required to pay upfront for orders from the product catalogue before the goods were delivered to the customers, who would then pay him. He expects to make a profit from the sales as well.
“Over the span of 10 days from Jan 10 to 19, the victim performed 15 transactions to several different local bank accounts, both personal and companies, totalling about RM99,854.40 (or USD21,750).
“He was promised a profit of USD7,215 in 10 days. He did not suspect anything as he had received some profits in between,” Foo told a press conference at the SUPP Headquarters today.
However, when attempting to withdraw USD2,742 credited to his e-wallet on the e-commerce platform, the man discovered his account was suspended due to a customer complaint.
Subsequently, the customer service representative informed him that a USD5,000 deposit was required to reactivate the account. Unable to make the payment, the man was offered the option to borrow from the e-commerce platform, leading him to realise he had fallen victim to a scam.
The victim reported the incident to the Bau police station on Jan 20.
“Despite not expecting to recover his lost funds, he approached me to raise awareness about such acts to prevent others from falling prey to similar fraudulent schemes.
“I urged the public to be cautious and beware that these deceptive tactics exist and can imitate well-known e-commerce sites like Lazada or Shopee, which would redirect users to fraudulent links. If you want to get into e-commerce, make sure the platform is genuine,” he said. — DayakDaily
