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PETALING JAYA: The next time you receive an item that you purchased online, please be careful how you dispose of empty parcel packages.
Police warned yesterday that scammers can misuse personal data displayed on packages.
The director of the federal police’s commercial crime investigations department (CCID), Commissioner Datuk Zainuddin Yaacob, said these empty packages must be disposed of safely to ensure that all personal data does not fall into the wrong hands.
Zainuddin was referring to a parody performed by various characters and circulated on social media that showed a woman discarding her empty courier package in a public trash can before it was picked up by a scammer.
The scammer scans the quick response (QR) code on the package and begins to annoy the woman by calling her until she turns off her phone.
The scammer then quickly makes his way to the woman’s home under the pretext of delivering a package.
The woman’s mother appears at the door and takes the package from the scammer after “verifying” her daughter’s details.
The scammer then requests payment of RM500, saying that the item has not yet been paid for.
When the “old woman” tries to call her “daughter”, she cannot communicate because she had previously switched off her phone.
The mother then decides to pay the RM 500 before the scammer abandons the package believed to contain worthless items.
Zainuddin said that to date the police have yet to receive any reports of a scam as depicted in the parody.
“If there are victims who have been the victims of such a scam, we urge them to file police reports. We assure the public that we will investigate the cheating case, “he said.
He advised online shoppers to keep family members informed about their advance packages, courier company details, and whether or not it had been paid.
Zainuddin said payments should not be made before the recipient of the package has verified everything with the intended recipient.
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