Remember, don't do pre-payment when buying stuff online.
Always choose Cash on Delivery and always choose to meet the seller in person
(yep, you can go and meet the seller, and bring along your friends as well, just for safety reason)
and insist on inspecting the item that you want to buy.
My story :
One fine day, I tried to purchase a Nikon D700 camera.
Looking for a used item, so I decided to go to Mudah.my.
Some searches was done, and a few advertised item popped out.
Saw this specific ad.
Price advertised was slightly lower than typical market price (and that what attracts you as a buyer),
and luckily did not fall into his trap.
Scammer Details :
Name (or what he claims to be) : Richard Simeon
Email : rsimeon15@yahoo.com (there might be other alternate addresses. See 'Other Reference(s)')
Phone : 016 6152436 / 0166152436 (01661524xx)
Bank Account Details : Ambank 5 2 6 7 4 8 8 4 0 0 0 9 6 7 2 7 (52674 884000 96727) / 5267488400096727
Modus Operandi :
Potential buyer (me) contacts him through the advertisement posted in an online website (in my case, Mudah.my)
He then replies (thru email) and claims to be coming from some part of Malaysia (in my case, Johor)
and will tell you that he has been assigned to some remote parts in Malaysia
(in my case, Sarawak, East Malaysia) for job purposes.
He will arrogantly ask whether you are a serious buyer (LOL) trying to show that he is serious as well.
When asked for a meeting (or cash on delivery / COD), he refuses with some funny reason
(in my case, he is in remote location).
Asked for a meeting, he give funny reason his wife is pregnant, wanted to use money quickly,
cannot reserve the item, wanted to use money for Raya, LOL..)
Then, I asked how do we move forward.
He asks for initial deposit to be made before he can send the stuff through 'registered' Pos Laju with insurance.
He also will send the warranty card after you bank-in/deposit the balance. (since he claims it is still new in box)
You think I'm going to trust you blindly by simply depositing the money?
Better luck next time, scammer.
p.s I'm lucky as I'm quite literate on this scamming thingy.
Sad to here there's a lot of cases happening to people out there.
Misc:
1) Automatically did some Google search on his details. Founded links sharing the same story (See 'Other Reference')
2) Tried to trace his location (by IP address) but unfortunately it returns a US based location.
I believe he masked his existence by using a anonymous proxy when accessing his web mail, I supposed.
I think, since his online presence is almost untraceable (or it is just to many variables that need to be looked into),
the only way to identify and catch this guy is to collaborate with the police, the seller's bank, telco, SKMM, ISP, etc,
if the scammer/seller is operating locally.
What to do if you are a victim of scam:
I think, personally, given the environment in the country, there's nothing much you can do actually
(since these scammers really know how to hide their identity by maximizing on systems loophole or inefficiency),
except that you can help to prevent potential cases in the future, by doing :
0) Accept the fact that you have been conned.
Learn from the lesson (and please scold yourselves because you did not choose to hear/care about your
friends/family/spouse/etc advice if you received one before being conned.
Even most online banks and websites tell you not to do online transfer to person you do not know).
Don't start to blame other people of your mistake.
1) Do not delete or throw away the bank-in / deposit receipt and all communication done (email, sms, etc)
between you and the seller. This is for proof purposes.
2) Do a police report quickly. CC to necessary Gov agency, e.g SKMM / MCMC, KPDN, etc. to obtain
necessary support. I heard that there's a cyber crime unit
in Bukit Aman IPD, but cannot confirm on that.
3) Contact the seller's bank (Fraud dept, I think?) and do a report. Bring all your proofs and police report.
4) Write a blog (so people can refer and relate or do checking) or share your experience through your
social network (Facebook, etc)
If you need some action taken to the seller, the police, bank, telco, ISP and relevent gov agencies must work
and communicate among themselves.
But getting them to talk among themselves is going to take too much effort and time, unless there's a lot
of report being made.
Unless you really can create 'some special' attention or drive the collaboration
( or you're the prime minister who got conned by a online seller, eh?), your money is good as gone.
Share this article thru Facebook if you think it can help other people out there!
Other Reference(s) :
http://forum.mamakonline.com/index.php?showtopic=38540
http://photosniper-yokoi.blogspot.com/2011/08/0166152436-beware-of-this-acammer.html
