By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, July 5: Online scam and loan shark related complaints received by the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Public Complaints Bureau rose 40 per cent in the first half of this year compared to the corresponding period in 2025.
In a statement, its chief Milton Foo said many victims were small business owners from Kuching, Sarikei, Sibu, Bintulu and Miri who turned to illegal moneylenders or online lenders due to cash flow problems, only to fall deeper into debt and intimidation.
He urged the public not to trust loan or investment advertisements circulating on social media, warning that scam syndicates would stop at nothing to deceive victims.
“Scam syndicates do not talk about rationality, law or reason. Their only goal is to cheat you out of every sen, and they will continue using threats, intimidation, arson, abduction and other illegal means to achieve it,” he said.
He said this after an experience-sharing session at SUPP headquarters yesterday (July 4), during which Datuk Seri Michael Chong Ten Soo shared his 38 years of experience handling loanshark and scam cases.
During the session, Chong advised victims of loanshark harassment to act swiftly by lodging a police report, notifying the complaints bureau and alerting the media, saying delays would only worsen the situation as interest continued to accumulate while fear escalated.
On online scams, he urged victims to immediately cease all communication with scammers, preserve transaction records and chat histories, and report the incident to the police as well as the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) by calling 997.
Chong also stressed that media exposure could play an important role in resolving public complaints, citing past cases in which public pressure helped compel parties to honour their obligations and deliver justice to victims.
Foo described Chong as a respected public complaints advocate whose commitment to helping victims had benefited Malaysians for more than three decades.
He said the bureau would continue strengthening its efforts to educate the public on scams and illegal moneylending while working closely with the authorities to assist victims. — DayakDaily
