|
Tuesday, 08 Mar 2022, 1:00 PM MYT |
| By Prof. Dato’ Dr Andrew Mohanraj |
“Civil servant loses over RM700k in a scam” read the heading of a news article (The Star, March 1, 2022) last week.
Many, reading such stories, perhaps just raise their eyebrows and shake their heads, wondering how people can be so gullible.
Whether it is the Macau scam involving a “high ranking official”, the love scam where the “dashing” con artist defrauds the victim of their savings, or the e-commerce get-rich-quick scheme, scammers seem to be having a field day.
Even my friend Kumar, who meticulously avoids opening suspicious emails and does not answer phone calls from unidentified numbers, found himself cheated.
He bought a phone jacket for RM150 through a popular e-trading platform, after reading rave reviews of the product on that platform.
Much to his disappointment, he discovered that the product delivered to him was of poorer quality than the one advertised, and in fact, was being sold at the local pasar malam (night market) for RM20!