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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How to outsmart smartphone scammers ?

You carry your smartphone everywhere. But the way you use it could leave you vulnerable to specific forms of identity theft, including robocall scams and hackers looking to hijack your phone number. — AP

Be wary of these four types of financial predators

REGRETTABLY Malaysia seems to be fertile ground for all sorts of scammers. Just yesterday I received a text message from Bank Negara Malaysia, warning me not to open emails that claim they are from BNM and ask for payment verification.

The newspapers report every month on hundreds of Malaysians losing millions of Ringgit to all sorts of financial predators.

These are the four types of financial predators you should be aware of.

Financial predators that are selling you something amazing (for them). Some financial predators are trying to sell you something and only later you find out that the item is not the best use of your money at all.

Watch out for these financial predators:

* The pyramid scheme operator who is selling you products which sound expensive and technologically sophisticated, but are worthless.

* The shop owner, who recommends expensive or high margin products, which turn out to be unpopular or old products to increase his profit or clear his inventory.

* The property agent, who pushes you to purchase a house despite knowing that there is a price correction coming. He just cares about getting his commission.

* Financial predators that want to make you rich (but make you poor instead).

Other financial predators are not selling you a product, but a dream: to be rich one day. You would be amazed to find out how much people are willing to spend in their pursuit of this dream. You can get rich in many ways, but not nearly as many, as ways in which you can get scammed.

For instance, consider:

*The investor or trader that is selling you currency, gold, stock or property with the promise of extremely high returns. Sometimes they don’t sell the assets, but a "secret" formula or (software) tool to always make a winning trade. Don’t fall for it!

* The prince, minister, lottery winner, retired general and other personalities which will reward you with a slice of their wealth. If first you pay some legal / custom fees.

* The fake lottery / contest predator, that tricks you into thinking you won a sizeable sum of money. You just need to pay up some administration fees before you can redeem your prize.

* The scratch & win agent and casino operator. “The house always wins.” You will bring more to the casino operator than he will give back.

* The (soccer) bookie, who extends upfront credit for you to place more bets and win back your losses. But if you keep losing, his friendly helpfulness will quickly vanish.

Financial predators that "just" want to help you (into bigger problems)

Some financial predators pretend they just want to help you – some may even say they have nothing to gain from it. Be aware of these sophists!

* The financial planner that gets more commission the more financial products you buy. Never mind whether you really need all that insurance and other financial products.

* The loan shark that will give you better rates or quicker disbursement than the bank, but asks much higher interest rates in return.

* The salesman that is selling you expensive insurance on top of your car / phone etc that already have guarantee from the manufacturer.

* The car dealerships and stores who encourage you to take their own (more expensive) financing plans instead of your bank's instalment plans.

* The financial predator that is in love with you (or is it your money)?

* And then finally, the financial predator that lures you with dreams of romance. This one is the saddest of all, because doesn’t everyone deserve more genuine love in their life?

And isn’t it heart-breaking to see how scammers toy with people’s strongest desires, just for monetary gains?

Be aware for online girlfriends and boyfriends that contact you out of nowhere. Don’t be surprised when you find scammers that try to deceive you with romantic talk in the darkest of alleyways on the Internet (or just around the corner on Facebook and other social media apps).

Especially be wary if you have never seen your new love in real life or (s)he is a foreigner and needs your money in order to pay for visa or flights or to pay off local debts before (s)he is allowed to leave.

As you can tell, Malaysia and the world are full of financial predators. Don’t fall prey to them and become their lunch.

By Mark Reijman The Star/ANN

Mark Reijman is co-founder and managing director of https://www.comparehero.my/dedicated to increasing financial literacy and to help you save time and money by comparing all credit cards, loans and broadband plans in Malaysia. Keen on joining the team as a writer, then email mark@comparehero.my