Fake property agents scamming renters

Calling for action: Chong (seated, second from left) with Lee (Chong’s left) with the six property agents during the press conference. — LOW LAY PHON/The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Scammers have now ventured into new territory, posing as property agents to dupe unsuspecting renters in the Klang Valley out of thousands of ringgit, with 10 cases reported so far.

Apart from using the profile pictures of legitimate agents and copying their verification numbers on property sites, the scammers even conduct viewing sessions for clients and later collect rental deposits before going missing when the key handover is due.

Victor Lee, a spokesman representing six property agents whose profiles were duplicated by scammers to create identical accounts on a property site to dupe the public, said they only came to know of this after being alerted by their company.

“However, we were not aware of these transactions taking place using our names. Only after it happened did we realise that there were impostors,” Lee told a press conference held by MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong here yesterday.

He said checks on the property site would find two accounts of the same agent, with one being fake.

“The contact number on the impostor account also redirects to a private number (which is not ours). Listed property prices in the impostors’ accounts are also lower than market rates to attract clients,” he said.

On viewing sessions conducted by the “agents”, Lee said he suspected the impostors rented the property through online rental sites, thus giving them access.

The scammers, he said, would then collect a three-and-a-half month rental deposit upfront, when the norm is that only one month’s advance rental is collected if the client agrees to the unit.

“The balance is usually paid when the unit is handed over to the tenant,” he said.

He said the deposits were also banked into an account number provided by the “agent” and once the transaction was made, the scammer would immediately block the mobile number of the client.

Meanwhile, Chong said losses from the scam amounted to about RM6,000 per case with approximately 10 cases reported so far.

Most of the scam victims are local and foreign students, he said.

“We want to warn the public about this type of scam and ask them to beware of the mobile numbers used in these cases,” he said, adding that he also suspected the scammers could be property agents themselves as they were well versed in rental procedures.

Chong said they would also hold dialogues with real estate associations to alert them on the matter.

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Syndicate using names of real estate agents

Billed RM695,598 for electricity; beware of illegal cryptocurrency/Bitcoin mining operations

 Billed RM695,598 for electricity

`Huge bill: Wu (left) and Ch'ng showing the police report and a letter from TNB during the press conference in Kuala Lumpur - LOY LAY PHON/The Star

` Bitcoin mining op suspected behind shockingly high power usage

 KUALA LUMPUR: An elderly man was shocked when he received a notice from Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) claiming that he owed nearly RM700,000 for electricity usage.

` Wu Tuan Chiang, 71, said TNB claimed that the meter of the shoplot he had rented out had been tampered with.

` “I have been renting out the shoplot at Bandar Puteri Puchong to an IT solutions company since 2019, and the company was supposedly registered in Ipoh, Perak.

` “On Dec 16, TNB sent me the notice claiming that the meter had been tampered with, and they were claiming RM695,598.10 in electricity charges,” he told reporters at the MCA Public Services and Complaints Department yesterday.

` He said they suspected that the shoplot had been used in a bitcoin mining operation.

` “I have been trying to contact the tenant since Dec 16 last year but to no avail thus far.

` “When I visited the property, it had already been cleaned out,” he said, adding that he had lodged a police report on the matter.

` Meanwhile Ch’ng Yi Quan, 24, said he received a letter on Dec 22 claiming he owned a TNB account for an address at Teluk Panglima Garang.

` “They claimed that the meter at this address had also been tampered with, and were demanding RM77,033.25 in electricity charges.

` “The only problem here is that I have never registered any shoplot for electricity,” Ch’ng said, adding that he suspected someone had misused his personal details to register for electricity supply.

` He claimed that he lost his identity card last year, and suspected that the person who found it had used it for this.

` MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong said they received 10 similar cases so far involving at least Rm1.75mil in losses.

` “In some of these cases, the syndicates use bogus real estate agents to secure the tenancy so that they cannot be traced.

` “Our advice is that all landlords must be proactive in ensuring their property is used for only legitimate business.

` “They must also only deal with registered real estate agents,” he said, adding that they would contact TNB in order to hold a dialogue on the matter.

` His legal adviser, Datuk Theng Book, said TNB meter readers must be alert and thoroughly check meters monthly.

` “It does not make sense that they read these meters every month, but only detect meter tampering after long periods of time,” he said.

Beware of illegal cryptocurrency/ Bitcoin mining operations

IPOH: Premises suspected to be running illegal cryptocurrency mining operations and stealing electricity should be reported to the police, says Perak police chief Comm Datuk Mior Wahid Faridalathrash.

` These mining operations could usually be identified by the exhaust fan installed at the back of the building, he said.

` “It is part of the cooling system for their mining machines,” he added.

` The police held two joint operations over the past week in Manjung on premises found to be stealing electricity and running illegal cryptocurrency mining activities.

` A Malaysian man was arrested last Wednesday with equipment worth RM3.5mil being seized, while a second operation saw equipment worth about RM1.6mil being seized.

` Police checked 122 premises with 46 of them found to be running these mining activities.

` Comm Mior Faridalathrash said cryptocurrency mining operations would typically take place in densely-populated areas or near industrial zones where electricity consumption was high, to conceal their activity.

` “If they operate in areas that do not have a lot of activity, it would alert Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB).

` “TNB is able to detect such operations if there is abnormally high usage of electricity,” he told reporters yesterday after attending the state police contingent’s monthly gathering at the Police Air Wing unit training base here.

` Comm Mior Faridalathrash said building owners renting out their premises should be aware of their tenants’ activities to ensure no law was being broken.

` “We are working closely with TNB to curtail these operations that are stealing electricity and disrupting other users,” he said.

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Cops bust cryptocurrency mining ops in Manjung for...

 https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2022/01/04/cops-bust-illegal-cryptocurrency-mining-ops-in-manjung-seize-rm16mil-worth-of-equipment

 

TNB: Refrigerators, air-conditioners, and water purifiers ...

https://soyacincau.com/2021/03/04/tnb-tenaga-nasional-berhad-refrigerators-air-conditioners-water-purifiers-electricity-bill/

 

 

Kosovo bans cryptocurrency mining to save electricity | The Star

 

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When the wife is boss

Hubbies fall victim to abuse of high-earning, dominant spouses

PETALING JAYA: Earning less than your wife can be hazardous to your wellbeing as quite a number of men have discovered.

Although incidents of wives abusing husbands rarely appear in the media, the Welfare Department has been receiving cases of men being mistreated by dominant women every year.

Many of the culprits are women who earn more than their spouses.

The Welfare Department received 25 reports from men who were abused by their wives or girlfriends last year, 32 in 2010 and 14 in 2009.

Most cases were reported in Selangor, followed by the Federal Territory, and the offences included threatening injury, causing physical harm, emotional abuse and locking up the men.

The Department of Women Development received four cases of abused men last year, with financial disagreement being the root of all cases.

In each case, “the wife is more dominant in the family and earns a higher income than the husband,” it said in an e-mail.

Women, on the other hand, reported 117 cases of domestic abuse up to June this year, compared to 649 last year and 663 in 2010.

Neuro-psychologist Dr Nivashinie Mohan said that financial stress was the major cause of domestic violence against men.

“Studies have shown that women assault men about as often as men assault women,” she said.

“While men tend to cause more damage because they are usually stronger, women can even the odds with weapons such as knives, high heels and sharp nails.”

Dr Nivashinie said abused men were reluctant to turn to the authorities for fear of appearing “unmanly”.
“Society also teaches men that it's wrong to hit women, so they don't retaliate,” she added.

Many of the women who abused men were alcoholic while some could be suffering from certain personality disorders that cause them to be violent towards their partners.

MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong said that some women were breadwinners and abused their husbands for “reckless spending”.

He also encountered four cases of wives becoming violent after learning that their spouses had affairs.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Ting Joe Hang said women might look on spouses who earn less as “useless” and as a result, would abuse them.

He said there may be reasons other than money problems.

Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Heng Seai Kie said there was no excuse for domestic violence and advised the victims both women and men to contact the Welfare Department or its 104 district offices nationwide or Talian Nur at 15999

By P. ARUNA and YUEN MEIKENG The Star/Asia News Network

Jobless schizophrenic with 12 credit cards owes RM50,000

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By AMANDA NG YANN CHWEN and KATHY CHIN newsdesk@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: An unemployed schizophrenic has landed himself with a RM50,000 debt – no thanks to his 12 credit cards.



MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Michael Chong said the man, known only as Y.F. Chong, 35, had approached him for help as he was afraid he would go to jail.

“Why was it so easy for him to get so many cards when his salary was only 1,500?” he asked reporters at a press conference at his office here yesterday.

Y.F., who used to work in a milling factory, said he would apply for every credit card offered to him by promoters at shopping centres and was approved for all of them.

He said that when he lost his job in October due to his condition, which was diagnosed in 2004, he started depending on his credit cards to get by.

“Previously, I used to pay for trips to spas and a holiday in Thailand with my credit cards,” he said, adding that he even took two supplementary cards for his mother and sister.

He said last year, the banks started demanding payment, adding that all his cards have now been cancelled.

“If I still had a job, I would pay off the debts by instalment, but I am jobless now,” said YF, who because of his condition, claims somebody is following him and poisoning his food.

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterised by a breakdown of thought processes and by poor emotional responsiveness. Symptoms include auditory hallucinations, paranoia or delusions,

He claimed that when he tried to file for bankruptcy, the Official Assignee office asked him to pay another RM1,500 for filing charges.

“I couldn’t as I didn’t have the money,” he said.

Chong expressed amazement that YF managed to get 12 credit cards.

He said he had tried to apply for a Gold Card more than 10 years ago, and was rejected.

“Why is it so easy to apply for credit cards now?” he asked.

Chong added that it was not surprising that so many young people in the country were in serious debt.

“There’s something really wrong with the current system,” he said, adding that banks should have a more thorough vetting process.