Beware of motor insurance vultures
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April 18, 2021
Remember the vultures who used to spill oil on the road to cause car crashes? They might be back, so watch out.
What has happened over the past few years is a baffling mystery: there are victims but no logical motive.
We’re talking about annual billion-ringgit fraud claims in the motor insurance business and a Bank Negara Malaysia-initiated programme to minimise losses to motor insurance companies.
It seems like these efforts between BNM and motor insurance companies grouped under the General Insurance Association of Malaysia (PIAM) to establish an ethical standard to the crash repair business have come to zero at the hands of the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC).
MyCC last year won a court judgment that penalised PIAM and 22 insurance companies for a total of RM174 million for offences against the Competition Act.
On that note, MyCC is also in the process of amending the law so that it can rule on mergers and acquisitions as it notably couldn’t when Grab and Uber merged in Malaysia a few years ago.
Let me tell you the story and see if you can solve the who-done-it question:
Like most progressive nations, Malaya went through a motorisation phase after the First World War when tin miners and rubber plantation owners were so rich that they bought British, French and American cars and rubber tappers without electricity bought fridges to store their food.
'Price of chicken in Klang Valley has gone up 6 times in April'
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April 17, 2021
KUALA LUMPUR: The price of fresh chicken in the Klang Valley has increased about six times, within this month alone, traders claimed.
Poultry sellers claimed that cumulatively, there was a total of RM1.50 increase for the price of chicken per kilogramme at wet markets.
The standard price for chicken per kilogramme is now between RM8 and RM9 at wet markets and farmer's markets in the Klang Valley.
Poultry seller Noordilla Aida Othman said there were at least two occasions when the prices went down, but they lasted only a day.
She is now selling chicken at RM8.80 per kilogramme at the Selayang wet market.
"On April 1, the price per kilogramme for standard chicken was RM7. The price increased even before the fasting month.
"The highest price was at RM8.40 per kilogramme for the standard chicken.
"Customers are always aware of the changes. They now buy less compared to the week before Ramadan. Normally people purchase around three to four whole chickens when the price was around RM6 per kilogramme for the standard chicken," she told the New Straits Times.
Read more: 'Price of chicken in Klang Valley has gone up 6 times in April'
71-year-old woman loses RM18k in love scam
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MELAKA: A 71-year-old woman fell victim to an online love scam before losing RM18,000 to a syndicate operating via social media.
State Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief, Superintendent E. Sundra Rajan said the senior citizen befriended a man via Facebook on March 27 and then continued their relationship through WhatsApp.
"During their initial introduction online, the suspect told the victim he would be traveling to Japan to work on a railway construction project via a cargo ship.
"He then made up another story saying he was detained at the Melaka Port and needed money to secure his release," he said.
The woman then told her nephew to help her with the transactions.
"The victim's nephew made seven payments amounting to RM18,000 to three different bank accounts given by the suspect.
"After the payment was made, the suspect kept asking for more money from the victim, but this time it was allegedly for the Customs officers who stopped him.
"The suspect deceived her again saying he had been detained by Customs officers because he was carrying a large sum of cash with him, which wasn't true," he said.
Sundra said the woman had sought her nephew's help again, but this time the nephew did not help her.
Loan sharks trap unsuspecting victims
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19 APR 2021
KUALA LUMPUR: Police have uncovered a new tactic by loan shark syndicates in entrapping victims with loans they never took.
Federal police commercial crimes investigations director Commissioner Datuk Zainuddin Yaacob said yesterday that the scam would begin with a sum of cash being deposited into the bank accounts of an unsuspecting individual.
He said the syndicate members would then call up the bank account holder and inform him or her that the deposit was mistakenly made before requesting the cash be returned.
“The victims usually obliged the request and would return the cash. However, about a month later, unlicensed moneylenders would began calling up the victims and demand repayment for a purported loan they took, often the exact sum that had been deposited into their bank account and returned to the syndicate earlier.” he said.
Zainuddin said although police have not received reports of such cases, he did not discount that it existed or has occurred.
He advised the public to be cautious at all times if they are faced with such scams.
Zainuddin said if the public found cash deposited into their bank accounts without their knowledge or consent, they should lodge a police report and raise the matter with the bank concerned to seek advice on how to address the issue.
Source:
Kahwin tak jadi, lesap RM223,010
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April 16, 2021 @ 10:26am
Kota Bharu: Menjalin hubungan cinta dan dijanjikan untuk berkahwin menyebabkan seorang ibu tunggal lesap RM223,010 kerana diperdaya sindiket 'Love Scammer'.
Taktik itu digunakan suspek dengan menyamar sebagai individu yang berpangkat 'Datuk' dan berkenalan dengan mangsa yang juga seorang penjawat awam berusia 44 tahun.
Ketua Polis Kelantan, Datuk Shafien Mamat berkata, mangsa berkenalan dengan suspek yang kononnya menetap di Amerika Syarikat menerusi media sosial Facebook pada November tahun lalu.
"Mangsa dan suspek kemudiannya meneruskan hubungan menggunakan aplikasi Whatsapp dan lebih kurang dua bulan selepas itu suspek memberitahu ingin menjalinkan hubungan lebih serius serta berhasrat untuk berkahwin.
"Pada Januari lalu, suspek menyatakan dalam proses berpindah ke Malaysia untuk bekerja dan mendakwa kad kreditnya mengalami masalah untuk digunakan.
"Sehubungan itu, suspek meminta wang daripada pengadu untuk pelbagai tujuan dan antara Januari hingga 9 April lalu, mangsa sudah membuat sekurang-kurangnya 59 transaksi pembayaran ke 10 akaun bank milik individu berbeza dengan jumlah RM223,010," katanya kepada pemberita di sini, hari ini.
Polis kesan penipuan guna web palsu Maybank2u
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April 16, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM) mengesan satu bentuk penipuan dalam talian melibatkan beberapa kes yang menggunakan laman web Maybank2U palsu bagi mengambil wang dalam akaun mangsa tanpa disedari.
Pengarah Jabatan Siasatan Jenayah Komersial (JSJK) Bukit Aman Datuk Zainuddin Yaacob berkata, dalam kes ini, sindiket ini akan menghantar e-mel kepada mangsa yang kononnya e-mel itu dihantar oleh pihak Maybank dengan menyatakan akaun milik mangsa mempunyai masalah keselamatan.
Beliau berkata, mangsa kemudiannya diminta untuk menekan pautan yang disertakan di dalam e-mel berkenaan.
"Setelah pautan ditekan laman sesawang seperti Maybank2U akan dipaparkan, namun tanpa disedari ianya merupakan laman sesawang palsu dan mangsa kemudiannya dikehendaki mengemas kini butiran peripadi, kata laluan serta nombor telefon melalui laman sesawang terbabit.
"Tidak lama setelah pengemaskinian dilakukan, mangsa akan mendapati wang di dalam akaun miliknya telah berkurangan," katanya dalam satu kenyataan hari ini.
Beliau berkata, berdasarkan rekod, PDRM menerima sebanyak empat laporan berkaitan kes penipuan melalui pautan Maybank2U palsu membabitkan kerugian RM22,300 dan suspek belum dikenal pasti.
Call for department in banks to probe housing loan defaults
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15 APR 2021
PETALING JAYA: Experts are calling for Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and banks to set up a department to look into why borrowers are defaulting on their payments.
The recent case of M. Moganah, who had her home in Seri Kembangan, Selangor auctioned by a bank, highlights the need for such a department, they said.
The 38-year-old tailor had been living with her husband and two children in the flat for 17 years. She found herself in the predicament when her bank purportedly raised the interest rate on her loan without notifying her.
The bank is said to have blamed it on her failure to update her contact details and home address, a claim which Moganah has refuted. Malaysian Chapter of the International Real Estate Federation former president Yeow Thit Sang said members of the B40 group are often in situations such as Moganah, not by choice but as victims of circumstances.
He said factors such as poor education and lack of opportunities, on top of the Covid-19 situation, have led to a drop in their earnings. “The poor chap who signs on the dotted line with a bank is always at the losing end when it comes to default in payment of a loan.”
Yeow said in Moganah’s situation, the bank should have been more understanding and sympathetic by negotiating with her on how to settle the arrears.“People who lose their houses to banks will often never have a second chance to own another place to call home.”
Read more: Call for department in banks to probe housing loan defaults
‘Why are our good veggies going overseas while we eat low-quality, high-priced imports?’
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Food supplier calls for better quality control to ensure Malaysians not getting the short end of the stick
15 Apr 2021
GEORGE TOWN – Food prices in Malaysia, especially vegetables, may be rising, but instead of getting better produce, the higher grade crops are exported and locals are left with third-grade leftovers.
Vegetable supplier David Mariadass told The Vibes that, though Malaysia produces high-quality fresh produce, such as tomatoes, carrots, cabbages and turnips from Cameron Highlands, more than often than not, it is never consumed by Malaysians.
“We send our good produce over to Singapore. For example, when we export our best tomatoes to Singapore, they repackage them and export them to Europe.
“And, guess what? The sticker on the package says ‘Product of Singapore’!”
Now that Malaysia’s population has increased and development has taken over agricultural land, David worries that food shortages will cause the price of vegetables to skyrocket, hitting the most vulnerable groups worst.
“For example, countries like India do not export foodstuff if there is not enough supply for the people, but we still export our first-grade food, even when there is not enough for our population, and we import tomatoes, carrots, cabbages and turnips of substandard quality from China.
“We also import vegetables from Thailand, and those are cheap, but when there is a high demand, it will also hike up its prices, so who will lose out in the end?”
Read more: ‘Why are our good veggies going overseas while we eat low-quality, high-priced imports?’
Maybank warns of new fake banking website created to steal customer details
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Thursday, 15 Apr 2021
PETALING JAYA: Maybank has issued a scam alert warning customers about a new fake Maybank2u website created by fraudsters to steal banking information.
In a post on Twitter, Maybank shared that fraudsters will attempt to lure customers to login to bogus Maybank2u sites through messages sent via WhatsApp, SMS or email.
These messages aim to hoodwink customers into revealing their personal details – such as username, password, phone number and IC number – typically with false claims that their accounts have been compromised or judged as “high risk” by the bank’s system and that the user is required to “re-verify” their details.
Maybank stated that the company will never send reminders via SMS, email or WhatsApp with links urging users to login or update their Maybank2u account.
As an added security measure, it also reminded customers to manually key in the Maybank2u URL – maybank2u.com.my – to access their account as links provided by others may not be safe.
The company previously issued an alert about a fake Maybank2u website in February which was used by scammers for phishing attacks. Customers were lured to the fraudulent website through a promotional post on Facebook with the promise of winning some prizes.
Customers who may have revealed their Maybank2u login details on scam websites are urged to contact the bank immediately at (03) 5891 4744.
Read more: Maybank warns of new fake banking website created to steal customer details
Inefficiency the main issue in water management
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15 April 2021
THE lack of efficiency in water management continues to be the biggest threat to the country’s water distribution which is also likely to be caused by the absence of tariff hike.
Citing data from National Water Services Commission, Malaysian Water Association (MWA) president Datuk Abdul Kadir Mohd Din said five states recorded a loss in their water operating revenue in 2018.
“Malaysia has plenty of raw water of about 496 billion cu m, only taken from the surface water and only 3% is used. The volume of water supply is not the problem. The true problem is with the efficiency of water and ecosystem management.
“In 2018, five states experienced losses and still did not improve from the year before. The loss could be taken as an indication of their performance,” he said during a forum titled “Right to Clean Water in Malaysia” organised by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia yesterday.
According to the data, the five states were Kedah, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Perlis and Selangor.
Selangor recorded the biggest loss with RM1.28 billion during the year, followed by Pahang with RM30.48 million and Kedah with RM10.54 million.
Abdul Kadir said the water industry has been calling for the right water pricing and the relevant tariff mechanism.
Malaysia has been experiencing slow growth in tariff hikes with some states having not reviewed their water tariff for as long as more than 30 years.
Last month, Environment and Water (KASA) Minister Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said the government will require more time to come up with a restructuring plan with tariff increase that will not be burdensome.
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