30 love and 34 Macau scams reported so far this year
KUCHING: The state recorded a total of 34 Macau scams involving losses totalling RM1,098,173.58 and 30 love scams with losses amounting to RM1,258,494.98 from Jan 1 to April 11.
The biggest Macau scam involved RM329,400 and the smallest was RM1,000. On the other hand, the highest losses due to love scams was RM370,500 and the lowest RM900.
The statistics were revealed by Sarawak Commercial Crimes Investigation Department deputy chief DSP Moliza Tauk during a press conference on “Tackling Love Scam” at the office of the Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Ministry at Baitulmakmur here, yesterday.
Also present at the press conference were the minister herself, Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah; Women, Family and Childhood Development assistant minister Rosey Yunus, Community Wellbeing assistant minister Datuk Francis Harden Hollis, and Sarawak Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department chief Supt Sahar
Abdul Latif.
Macau scam refers to the act of “spoofing” where a scammer impersonates another individual or create a fictional scenario to trick the victim into transferring money to him/her; for instance, faking a kidnapping, winning a lottery, or pretending to be an officer of a bank or police or court.
In love scams, the scammers lure the victims into believing that they are in love. By getting to know one another on social media, the scammers gain the trust of the intended victims before creating a fake scenario (commonly known as “parcel”).
The scammers claim that they have posted parcels to the victims, but the parcels have been detained by the Customs Department. The victims are then asked to make payments in order for get the parcel through.
According to Moliza, Miri recorded the highest number of Macau scam cases in the above statistics with 13 cases, followed by Sibu with seven cases, Bintulu (four), Kuching (three), Sri Aman and Serian (two), while Samarahan, Betong, Padawan and Sarikei have one each.
Miri also has the most number of love scams with 12 cases followed by Sibu and Kuching (six each), Bintulu (three), Sri Aman (two), while Dalat, Lubuk Antu and Padawan have one each.
Moliza also broke down the composition of the 34 Macau scam victims by race. There are 21 Chinese, Malays (seven), Ibans (three), Indian (one), Sikh (one), and Melanau (one).
Of the 30 love scam victims 16 are Chinese, Ibans (seven), Malays (three), Kayans (two), Melanau (one) and Bidayuh (one).
“The criminals usually target women in their 30s. The victims are lured to make the cash transfers on different occasions over a period of about one year,” she said.
In 2017, the CCID recorded 73 Macau scams and 111 love scams in Sarawak, while last year there were 209 Macau scams and 102 love scams.
Fatimah said she was worried about the number of cases recorded in the first four months of this year. Hence, she advised the public especially women not to easily trust people they meet on social media.
“On our part, we can only try our best to educate the public and create awareness of the scams,” she said. “At the end of the day, it depends on a person’s own character and intelligence as to whether he/she ends up being cheated.
“Those who have low self-esteem are probably the most vulnerable to scams. Therefore, you should be always on guard, be suspicious; don’t be so gullible.”
