Chinese nationals being cheated by the millions: MCA

KUALA LUMPUR: Chinese nationals are becoming the target of scams in the local property sector and through various multi-level marketing (MLM) schemes.
MCA's Public Services and Complaints Department head, Datuk Seri Michael Chong said there were claims by Chinese nationals that they were being cheated by the millions in various scams involving Malaysian businesses.
"They came to us (MCA) to seek our help, especially those who have purchased property here. We are talking about millions of ringgit being invested unknowingly in these scams.
"After buying houses here, they claimed to be cheated by the developer where in such instances, Bumiputera reserve land were sold to them," he told a press conference at Wisma MCA, here, today.
Chong said the deals were made in their home country and when they came to Malaysia, they realised there were no proper deals, hence they faced losses amounting to millions of ringgit.
Meanwhile, on Chinese nationals being cheated by various local MLM businesses, Chong said the number was constantly growing.
He also revealed that many Chinese nationals were convinced on the MLM deals because the names of many VIPs were misused to carry out the scams.
"They (the scammers) will offer you something where you can get super returns and many, through greed, have fallen into the trap.
"By the time they reached out for help, it was too late.
"They have lodged police reports here, so we let the authorities handle their cases now," Chong said.
In light of the scams, he advised them that there were proper guidelines to purchase property in this country and they could always enquire with their lawyers or do checks with the Malaysian embassy in their home country before getting into money deals.
"They can even enquire from us (MCA Public Services and Complaints Department) or our Malaysia-China Welfare Advisory Council which is recognised by the Chinese embassy here," he said. — Bernama