Scammer exposed " Red Handed "

A lawyer not only managed to outwit a SMS scam requiring him to transfer RM449,827 into a Bank Rakyat account bearing number 22067949008 but also set up a trap to unravel the modus operandi. JM Martin also tipped off Daily Express to witness the transaction and to voice record his handphone conversation with the confidence trickster, a woman, who spoke in Malay with an Indonesian accent.

He earlier received a SMS stating that he won a grand prize of RM20,000 from Shell Malaysia Bhd on May 22. He decided to check out the origin of the SMS on June 4 by calling the handphone 012-8108245. To win over his confidence, he was given the company's website www.shell,myl.weds.com. But upon checking, it was stated that the website had been frozen.

Martin was instructed to go to the Public Bank to make the necessary transaction to claim his prize monies. The woman called him and gave step by step instructions so that the RM20,000 would end up in his savings account.

He decided to play dumb and at times the woman would berate him when he stalled or made a mistake. She insisted the transaction on the ATM be conducted in Bahasa Malaysia, even though Martin claimed he was not well versed in the language. After he inserted his ATM card, the woman seemed fully aware of what he was doing through the sound beeps emitted from the machine as what appeared on the screen or when the card was ejected.

She asked Martin about his savings account balance and when he gave a fictitious RM23,000 she insisted it should be RM23,066.

Then, Martin was told to go to the module "Pindahan Bayaran Pinjaman" (transfer loan repayment). From there he had to enter "Pindahan Antara Bank" (inter bank transfer) and to choose Bank Rakyat. At this stage, the woman asked Martin to key in 449827 but the figure appeared as RM449,827. That was when Martin blew the lid and revealed his identity to the scammer. It was not a serial number but a sum of money to be transferred to the woman's Bank Rakyat account. A Public Bank officer who was also a witness spoke to the woman that it was a transfer of money.

However, the woman was insistent that it was a serial number to effect the prize money to Martin. She was unrattled by Martin's exposure and threats to report to the police commercial crime division. Pressing on to complete the process, she told Martin to co-operate or otherwise his account would not be active to receive the money. She also avoided giving her name, other than that her office was in Damansara, Kuala Lumpur.

From his legal experience, Martin knew it was a bid to borrow RM449,827 from Bank Rakyat using his savings account balance as collateral.

"The full loan might not get through but the con woman thought she could get her hands on the balance of the savings account which I cooked up as RM23,000," he explained.

Martin, accompanied by Daily Express, lodged a report at the Labuan police contingent's head office. He hoped that by exposing it, the public would not fall prey to such criminals. Prior to the exercise, the lawyer also briefed the bank of his plan to expose the scam.

Sources: Daily Express

" Thanks to this lawyer for his brave action. The internet scammer should be stopped once and for all."