{"id":2417,"date":"2019-04-23T12:00:44","date_gmt":"2019-04-23T12:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/devbloglavaprotocols.nityo.in\/why-are-malaysians-so-gullible\/"},"modified":"2019-04-23T12:00:44","modified_gmt":"2019-04-23T12:00:44","slug":"why-are-malaysians-so-gullible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavaprotocols.com\/the-cloud-blog\/why-are-malaysians-so-gullible\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Are Malaysians So Gullible?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p><strong><i>By Prethiba Esvary, Marketing and Communications Executive, Lava Protocols<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Last Saturday, one of our employees almost lost all of her savings. Here\u2019s her account of what happened:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I received a call from a handphone number claiming that I had summons to pay off. The recorded message said I could press \u20180\u2019 to speak to someone. A \u2018police officer\u2019 picked up and asked for my name and identification card (IC) number. What happened next was he claimed that I had no summons but rather I was involved in a hit and run accident in Kuala Terengganu which put a 15-year-old kid in a coma. The driver of the car claimed that I had rented his car. He then claims this is a huge case and there is a warrant for my arrest. The fear that someone may have got hold of my personal details and used my name in a case like this drove me to hysterics. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He asks me to go somewhere private so he can record my statement, in an effort to clear my name. He also made it a point to ask me not to go too far for my safety. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hmm. Well played. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He then asks me to Google \u2018IPK Terengganu\u2019 (Terengganu Contingent Police Headquarters) and says he would call from the number listed there. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Clever.<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The call came and he began probing me further. I said I would prefer to go to the police station and sort this out. He got angry and challenged me to do so and warned that it wouldn\u2019t be his fault if I got arrested. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After numerous attempts of clarifying that I have never stepped foot into Terengganu, let alone rent a car, he proceeded to ask me:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What car do you drive? When did you purchase it and from where?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What cars do you have at home?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What bank accounts do you have? How much do you have? Which account does your salary go into?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At this point, I suspected something was amiss. I hear him speaking to \u2018his boss\u2019 and the story changes. Apparently now, I am also involved in money laundering and drug smuggling activities. He claimed I had illegally obtained RM2.28million, which is currently sitting in my OCBC account<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (an account which I don\u2019t even have!)<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and gave me the names of 3 suspects involved <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> all of whom claim I was an accomplice. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I knew something was up and said I wanted to go to the police to clarify this. The moment I mentioned I was going to the police, he got angry and said he wouldn\u2019t cooperate with me. The call ended after that <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(after 1.5 hours)<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thankfully. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When I went to the police station to make a report, the policewoman said there were SO many similar cases like this and I was lucky that I hadn\u2019t actually gone to the extent of furnishing them with my bank account username and password and debit card details. There was also an elderly Chinese woman next to me who was making a report. She had apparently lost more than RM1million because of a scam as well. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2013End of account\u2013<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><b>Lesson Learnt<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019m pretty sure this scam sounds all too familiar to some of you. This is a classic case of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.com.my\/news\/nation\/2018\/08\/02\/macau-scam-syndicates-love-playing-cops-the-most\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Macau Scam<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What makes it utterly believable is that these syndicates do a fine job acting as police officers <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from the way they speak to the questions they ask you. They even throw in their concerns for your safety and mention their desire to help you clear this up. They are smart in that they play to your fears. So, when you aren\u2019t able to think straight, you may accidentally give them details which you shouldn\u2019t. Elderly folks are one of the easiest targets for this, as they aren\u2019t as tech-savvy as the generations before them. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.com.my\/news\/nation\/2018\/08\/02\/macau-scam-syndicates-love-playing-cops-the-most\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">reported <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that between January and July last year, there were a total of 334 cases like this and the scammers reportedly received RM14.76mil from victims! <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What were the lessons learnt from this?<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If a police calls to claim you have been involved in a crime\/ accident and then asks for your IC, don\u2019t bother. Any police officer would already have your IC and details, especially if you have committed a crime\/ done something which is against the law. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If they press on and ask you to move to a private location where no one is around, this is a second indication that it is a scam, as they don\u2019t want your family or friends to overhear your conversation. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re still not convinced, the moment they ask you about your bank accounts and your family, HANG UP. All they want is your money. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Read this: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/asklegal.my\/p\/macau-scam-bank-negara-pdrm-phone-call-money\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What To Do If You Get A Suspicious Call?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More about scams: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.comparehero.my\/fraud-scam\/articles\/scams-malaysians-falling-for\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Money Sucking Scams Malaysians Keep Falling For [UPDATED]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><b>Are Businesses Doing Enough to Protect their Data? <\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s a story on an individual level. What about businesses? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Coming from a company that sells CRM solutions in Malaysia, I\u2019ve learnt that if you have the ability to build\/ create something, you would also know how to break\/ hack into it. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is why we are seeing A LOT of cybersecurity scandals taking place across the globe. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fake security emails and data breaches are examples of how your business operations can be compromised. The question to ask in most cases is, was it a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">human error<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">technology failure<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">? We talk about this more in a <a href=\"https:\/\/lavaprotocols.com\/2019\/04\/23\/cybersecurity-attacks-malaysia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">separate article<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014\u2014-<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><strong><i>Lava Protocols is a cloud consulting company in Malaysia. We are also an <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/lavaprotocols.com\/crm\/\"><i>authorised Salesforce Partner <\/i><\/a><i>and we possess more than a decade of experience in CRM solutions for sales, service, and marketing. We pride ourselves in not just being a CRM partner but also understanding the needs of our customers and taking their business to the next level.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"et_bloom_bottom_trigger\"><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was reported that between January and July last year, there were 334 Macau Scam cases and the scammers reportedly received RM14.76mil from victims!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2418,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[18,59],"class_list":["post-2417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-blog","tag-cloud-horizon"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.lavaprotocols.com\/the-cloud-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/anxious-black-and-white-blur-568027.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavaprotocols.com\/the-cloud-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavaprotocols.com\/the-cloud-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavaprotocols.com\/the-cloud-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavaprotocols.com\/the-cloud-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavaprotocols.com\/the-cloud-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavaprotocols.com\/the-cloud-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavaprotocols.com\/the-cloud-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavaprotocols.com\/the-cloud-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavaprotocols.com\/the-cloud-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavaprotocols.com\/the-cloud-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}