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. โThe 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.โ
Yeow said in Moganahโs situation, the bank should have been more understanding and sympathetic by negotiating with her on how to settle the arrears.โPeople who lose their houses to banks will often never have a second chance to own another place to call home.โ
Read more: Call for department in banks to probe housing loan defaults
โWhy are our good veggies going overseas while we eat low-quality, high-priced imports?โ
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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 โ 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.
โWe 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.
โAnd, guess what? The sticker on the package says โProduct of Singaporeโ!โ
Now that Malaysiaโs 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.
โFor 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.
โWe 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?โ
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 โ such as username, password, phone number and IC number โ typically with false claims that their accounts have been compromised or judged as โhigh riskโ by the bankโs system and that the user is required to โre-verifyโ 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 โ maybank2u.com.my โ 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 countryโs 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.
โMalaysia 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.
โIn 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,โ he said during a forum titled โRight to Clean Water in Malaysiaโ 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.
Scammers using more sophisticated tactics
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15 APR 2021
FEDERATION of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) and the National Consumer Complaints Centre (NCCC) would like to alert Malaysian consumers on the sudden spike of scam-related complaints.
Scammers are becoming more sophisticated with their tactics and are hoping consumers would let their guard down. Consumers are urged not to provide their personal, banking or any details to strangers.
Fomca has been receiving around 450 complaints and enquiries related to scams since January. Based on Fomcaโs observation, the scammers take advantage of vulnerable consumers, and surprisingly some of the victims are highly-educated.
It is becoming more difficult to know and differentiate between a scam and a legitimate business.
Fomca would also like to urge the relevant authorities to be proactive and play their role in curbing unscrupulous activities. Many consumers are still not aware of scamming activities.
The Communications and Multimedia Ministry and Malaysian Communications Multimedia Commission should play an important role to educate consumers through their channels.
The Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry also needs to frequently publish and update all scam-related cases on their website so consumers will be well informed.
Enforcement agencies must also charge these culprits, and increase fines and jail terms for these offences. Scammers are constantly trying to steal consumersโ personal data using fake emails, websites, phone calls and even text messages by using various ways to trick people into providing personal information like bank account numbers and other valuable information, such as credit card numbers.
LETTER | Do a thorough investigation on Celcom-Digi merger
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13 April 2021
LETTER | It has been reported that Celcom Axiata Bhd is merging with Digi.Com Bhd to create the biggest mobile service provider in Malaysia. The proposed merger would result in the emergence of Aseanโs largest telecommunications company with anticipated revenue of RM50 billion and net profit of RM4 billion.
This merger will result in market domination and reduce competition in the telecommunications sector. According to experts, with the merger, Celcom and Digi would have a combined share of 67 percent of mobile subscribers and 58 percent of the revenue.
With the merger, there would only be two competing corporations in the telecommunications sector - the merged company and Maxis. This clearly indicates a high level of concentration in the telecommunications sector.
With reducing competition in the telecommunications sector, would this result in higher prices and lower quality for consumers?
In a similar incident (though not a full merger), Malaysian Airline System and AirAsia signed a collaboration agreement to collaborate instead of competing on routes.
With reduced competition, consumers ended up paying higher prices and had fewer choices in choosing their airlines. This was the clear result of market sharing which had a disastrous impact on consumer welfare and consumer well-being.
Fomca had filed a complaint with the Malaysian Competition Commission (MyCC) to investigate this collaboration between MAS and AirAsia and its impact on consumer welfare.
Read more: LETTER | Do a thorough investigation on Celcom-Digi merger
โNot more than 30 sen for drinking water at eateriesโ
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12 APR 2021 / 10:42 H
PETALING JAYA: Ideally, water should be served free of charge at eateries. However, if an eatery chooses to bill a customer for a glass of water, it should not be more than 30 sen.
That is the consensus reached between consumer groups and an association of restaurant operators.
They were commenting on a recent announcement that the government is cracking down on high-end restaurants, fast food outlets, franchises and eateries, as well as stalls across the country, that charge RM1 or more for a glass of water.
Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Datuk Rosol Wahid said notices have been issued to 84 food and beverage outlet operators.
As of yesterday, Kelantan accounted for 14 of the offenders, the highest in the country.
The other states where overcharging for water have also been recorded are Selangor (12), Sabah (eight), Sarawak (eight), Johor (eight), Pahang (seven), Terengganu (six), Kuala Lumpur (five), Malacca (four), Labuan (three), Penang (three), Perlis (two), Perak (two) and Negri Sembilan (two).
Rosol said the notices, issued through Ops Catut 8.0 (Plain Water) that started last Wednesday, was in response to complaints from the public.
Read more: โNot more than 30 sen for drinking water at eateriesโ
LETTER | Has the MyCC protected consumer interests?
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9 April 2021
LETTER | According to the Competition Act 2010, the goal of the law is to โpromote economic development by promoting and protecting the process of competitionโ. The act also specifically states that by doing so it aims to protect the interests of the consumer.
Has the Competition Act in fact protected the interests of consumers?
The biggest impact on the cost of living for consumers is the increasing price of food. Fomca had strongly advocated for a market review on the food supply chain to ascertain if the high price of foods was due to market manipulation.
In August 2019, the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) published and released the Market Review on the food sector. The report had confirmed that one of the key reasons for high food prices was price distortions and manipulations in the food supply chain.
For example, according to the report, the price of ikan kembong has increased by six times between the price received by the fisherman and the price paid by the consumer. Another example of substantial price increase is the price of cabbage; price at the farm is RM1.60 while the consumer pays a retail price of RM3.90, an increase of 143 percent.
Another example of price manipulation was the fish supply chain. Middle men are known to hoard fish when prices are low, thus restricting supplies and forcing the prices of fish to increase. There was also opaqueness in price determination along the supply chain.
MyCC in its report had identified multiple causes of the exorbitant food price in the market. The reasons include market manipulation by middlemen, multiple intermediaries and manipulation of approved permits causing unreasonable increase in food prices.
Read more: LETTER | Has the MyCC protected consumer interests?
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