Categories: News

Police received 393 reports of face mask frauds throughout Malaysia

Recently, the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry uncovered and confiscated 223,000 units of 3 ply face masks from an online seller that was alleged to be selling them at marked-up prices. With masks being in high demand during the COVID-19 outbreak, the police have also received 393 cases of fraud involving the sale of face masks.

The losses from these reported cases are said to be RM1.1 million. The Deputy Inspector-General of Police Mazlan Mansor assured that the cases will be taken seriously and 26 people were arrested so far.

A few weeks ago, a woman in Melaka was ripped off of RM54,000 when she ordered 3,364 boxes of face masks from an online seller. The sale was communicated via WhatsApp and she paid for the face masks in two transactions one day apart. When the shipment of face masks did not arrive as promised, she felt cheated and had lodged a police report.

In Penang alone, there are 31 reported online face mask scams since last month which involved a total loss of RM130,000. According to the Penang police chief Datuk Sahabudin Abd Manan, they have identified several individuals behind the cases which are either syndicates or individuals that use false identities on Facebook. It is also reported that some syndicates use mule accounts for the victims to transfer the money.

The police chief advises the public to the cautious when buying face masks online and suggests to buy them at shops or pharmacies if possible.

[ SOURCE 2, IMAGE SOURCE ]

Related reading

Recent Posts

DC Handal deploys 50kW DC and 22kW AC charge points at Plaza Mont Kiara

Visitors heading to Plaza Mont Kiara can now charge up their EV with the latest…

15 hours ago

EVPower deploys 30kW DC and 22kW AC charge points at IJN, now 50% off for limited time

EVPower has turned on a total of 4x EV Charge Points at Institut Jantung Negara…

16 hours ago

Poco Pad C1 launched in Malaysia, priced from RM549: Budget tablet with 9.7″ screen, 7,600mAh battery, Snapdragon 6s 4G Gen 2

Aside from the Poco C81 Pro, the Xiaomi sub-brand has also launched a budget tablet,…

19 hours ago

Qualcomm brings Snapdragon X2 series AI PCs to Malaysia

Qualcomm has officially unveiled its Snapdragon X2 Series platform in Malaysia. The new series expands…

19 hours ago

Poco C81 Pro now in Malaysia: Budget smartphone with 6.9″ 120Hz LCD, 6,000mAh battery, priced from RM389

Poco has launched its latest budget smartphone, the Poco C81 Pro, in Malaysia. With a…

20 hours ago

Prasarana to introduce tap-in and tap-out with credit cards and QR payments for MRT, LRT and Bus Rides

Ever wished you could just tap in with your credit card at an MRT or…

22 hours ago

This website uses cookies.