Man pays a whopping RM50,000 for non-existent pet online
THE STAR
PETALING JAYA: A British bulldog listed on an online classified website was worth only RM1,500 but a man, truly believing that he was buying the dog, paid a whopping RM50,000 for the non-existent pet.
The seller had asked him to pay logistics for the dog, which he did, and later told him the dog was being held by the Department of Veterinary Services for quarantine.
The seller also asked him to pay for the dog’s food, lodging and medication.
The buyer kept making payments of RM1,000 and RM5,000 until it snowballed to RM50,000.
This is one of the cases related to The Star by Mudah.my, an online classified website based in Kuala Lumpur.
As online shopping gains popularity due to its convenience, scammers have now come up with a new modus operandi by preying on unsuspecting buyers who prefer to shop on the Internet.
Online shopping can also be accessed through smartphone mobile apps, such asMudah.my and Carousell.
Mudah.my Sdn Bhd head of corporate affairs Chung Tsung Shen said the bulldog buyer only realised he was conned when the payment reached RM50,000.
“That’s when he contacted us. When we started tracking the seller, with the help of the police, we found out the money was banked into a local third-party account,” Chung recalled.
But the man was not the only victim of such online fraud.
Although he was warned against it, another buyer paid for a dog despite finding that the ad appeared dodgy.
“He called our office and we told him it could be a scam but the seller preyed on his goodwill and said the dog would not have food and medication if he did not pay.
“His spouse was also sympathetic towards the fate of the ‘dog’ so she encouraged him to pay,” he said.
Apart from pet dogs that don’t exist, another case involved RM30,000 for a car that was “parked” in Italy.
“Why would you want to buy a car that is not physically in this country?” Chung asked.
According to him, Mudah.my receives an average of 150 complaints regarding scams every month out of the 30,000 to 40,000 ads posted on its website but Chung is convinced that there are more cases that have gone unreported.
Mudah.my, which started business in November 2007, has blocked 562,643 ads since the middle of 2012 when it began keeping track of online scams and complaints.
“When we first started, we did not have a dedicated team to look into this matter but now we do.
“Whenever there is a new smartphone launch, it would be a busy time for us (due to the complaints lodged on scams relating to smartphones),” Chung revealed.
In an email response, a Carousell spokesman said Internet scams were an industry-wide challenge and the company had zero tolerance for dishonest acts.
“We encourage users to keep their conversations on the app as we have systems in place that can help detect fraudulent behaviour.
“We take feedback seriously. And once complaints are received, we will work closely with the police to address fraud cases,” he said.
