by Lottery fraud is a common scam in Malaysia, where the names of well-known companies and organisations, such as Maxis, are used to trick people into providing their financial information.
Typically, victims would receive a message or a call claiming that they have won a large sum of money in a lottery or contest sponsored by the company mentioned. Here’s how the scam usually works:
- Ahmad receives an SMS claiming that he has won a giveaway sponsored by Maxis. To claim the prize, Ahmad is asked to click on a link in the message.
- Excited, he clicks on the link, however, he ends up downloading a malware onto his phone! This is extremely dangerous as malware can spy on your phone’s activity, allowing scammers to steal your sensitive information.
- Soon after, he starts receiving calls from unknown numbers asking for personal and financial information and his savings in bank account are all gone!
Do’s:
- Be cautious of unsolicited messages or calls claiming that you have won a lottery or jackpot.
- Verify the message received from unknown numbers before trusting them as any company’s representative or management team.
- Always verify the lottery or giveaway offers with official websites and centres of such events.
Don’ts:
- Do not click into any links especially if it is from unknown sources or if the URLs look suspicious.
- Never provide personal or financial information to unknown sources.
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