Police: Be alert, scammers now trying to use govt’s stimulus package to get personal details

Scammers are trying to take advantage of the government’s stimulus package, says Comm Datuk Seri Mohd Zakaria Ahmad (pic).

The Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director said scammers are posing as “agents” to distribute aid by sending random text messages to the public and asking for their personal details.

“Their text messages would say that aid has been approved and that they need the recipients personal and financial information to proceed. Don’t be duped by these scammers and only trust legitimate authorities on the matter,” he told a press conference on Saturday (April 4).

While no cases have been recorded yet, Comm Mohd Zakaria said police are aware of such attempts by the scammers.

“The public must never reveal their personal or financial details. For example, only the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) is authorised to distribute the recent aid announced by the government to the people,” he added.

Comm Mohd Zakaria said that the CCID’s Cyber Crime division will be tracking down those who sent the scam messages.

On a similar matter, Comm Mohd Zakaria said there have also been attempts to dupe the people when the government announced that the public could withdraw from their Employee Provident Fund (EPF) during these hard times.

“Again, only deal with the assigned agency and not third parties.We hope the rakyat will heed our advice and avoid being duped by these scammers,” he said.

Those with questions can contact the CCID infoline via WhatsApp at 013-211 1222 or visit the sebenarnya.my portal.

The Star