by Christina Tay Tze Hui - Tuesday, 27 Feb 2023
KAJANG: Consumer scam is like a cunning fox, hiding in our lives, defrauding us of money when we are not paying attention or letting our guard down. In order to protect consumers’ money and rights, they not only understand consumer scam through social media, but also use various ways to identify consumer scam.
Shopee is one of the most commonly used online shopping platforms in Malaysia. (Image taken from screenshot)
According to The Edge Market, from 2020 to May 2022, there were a total of 71,833 scams recorded in the case, and the amount of fraud exceeded RM 5.2 billion. The type of scams includes consumer scam, work scam, and investment scam.
How Does The Fox Move?
21-year-old Choo Shaw Fen said that consumers scam is a big difference between the products bought by consumers and the photos uploaded by merchants.
"Last time I saw a person on Facebook that she bought a cake to celebrate her daughter's birthday, but the design on the cake is to apply cream a few times, it is completely perfunctory consumers." Said her.
Choo Shaw Fen added that if the merchant cannot accurately say the detailed information of the product, she will think she is being scam. She also felt that when she booked the product, the merchant asked to pay the full payment rather than the deposit, and she would doubt whether she was being deceived.
Choo Shaw Fen: Consumer scam is the difference between actual items and pictures.
Hii Shan Qian (46 years old), who has been scammed twice by foxes, has a different view on consumer scam. He said that the merchant did not explicitly write the information of the product, which was considered a kind of consumer fraud.
“The product I bought is a wallpaper, but there is no contrast next to the photos taken by the merchant, and it may be a problem with angle. It makes me feel that the wallpaper is large, but the actual wallpaper is very small.”
He also shared that his wife buying a pair of high-heeled shoes on the Internet before, because he did not open the package to confirm whether the product was real before he paid, so he was scammed.
"It wasn't until my wife opened the parcel that she told me that she bought high-heeled shoes instead of slippers. At that moment, I knew I was scammed."
Prevent and Fight!
After being scammed, Hii Shan Qian reported the seller to the official agency and reminded others under the the post of the seller. In order to avoid being deceived by Hii Shan Qian or his family, he will choose a credible online seller by viewing sales and buyers' comments.
Hii Shan Qian: When shopping online, I choose reputable sellers to avoid being scammed.
Since online shopping cannot be tried in physical stores, Hoh Sheng Yue (21 years old) believes that buyers can distinguish the quality of the product through review and sales.
She added that some products have just been launched, and there will be no evaluation or sales volume. At this time, buyers can judge check the other products of the same store to decided whether the seller is credible or not.
“When I find out that I have been scammed, I would immediately submit to the official agency sellers and ask for compensation to protect the rights of consumers.”
Hoh Sheng Yue: Judging whether the seller is trustworthy or not based on the seller's reviews and sales.
Cheong Yong Qiang (53 years old) says that when he is deceived, he will take different actions based on the amount of deceived.
“I will take different actions based on the size of the cheated funds. If the amount is not large, I will consider as buy a lesson, pay more attention next time. If the amount is large, I will go to the police.”
Cheong Yong Qiang: I will take different actions according to the amount of money scammed.
Be Kind, Be Sharp.
Scammers will scam consumers by fake charity, especially during the epidemic, although the cheated money may be used elsewhere, not charity, consumers think that the mind is more important.
According to Malaysia Gazette, on November 29, 2021, a group of scam organizations disguised as orphan charitable organizations and Orang Kurang Upaya (OKU) to recruit funds online and deceive money.
Such scam groups usually use social media such as Facebook and WhatsApp to publicize themselves, relate themselves to certain charity to win people's sympathy and donation.
Cheong Yong Qiang (53 years old) said he would consider whether to donate according to the amount of donation.
“If I were just asked to donate on the road, donating a RM1 or RM2, it is okay to be deceived, it is regarded as doing good. ”
“If the amount is large, I will ask them to show relevant documents to prove that they are a legitimate charity.”
The Salvation Army uses cans with its logo to identify itself when asking for donations. (Image taken from https://www.workday.com/en-hk/customer-stories/q-z/the-salvation-army-australia-manages-hire-to-retire-process.html)
“In social media, like Facebook see those who seeks donations, I usually don't care. If I really want to donate, I will search for the official website to ensure that my money is used in the right place.”
Even so, some people will think that donations are purely good intentions, and it doesn't matter if they are cheated. Chen Jia May (19 years old) was included one of them, and she didn't care if she was cheated.
"Because at the beginning, it is a goodwill from the heart to donate money for dogs and cats or people in need, so it doesn't matter if I was scammed."
Chen Jia May: It doesn't matter if I get scammed for doing a good deed.
Consumers' money is earned through hard work, and we can’t prevent scammers from targeting us, but we can identify and be aware before our money taken away by cunning foxes.
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