DESPITE the authorities’ efforts in curbing online scams, this issue is still an ongoing crisis affecting many in Malaysia.
A young woman had recently spread awareness regarding a scammer masquerading as a health consultant who randomly contacted her on the Telegram application.
@seriovslydot posted on X two screenshots of the conversation between her and the alleged scammer.
The scammer, Atiqah, introduced herself as a “breastfeeding consultant” who claimed she retrieved the young woman’s contact information through a woman named Fatin Mazelan.
Atiqah used Fatin Mazelan’s name, who is legitimately a private breastfeeding consultant with a wide platform on social media, for nefarious purposes.
She was instructed by Fatin to “guide” the young woman on how to breastfeed.
Atiqah added that the woman’s contact information were in a list that Fatin had, allegedly from the Health Ministry (MOH).
Atiqah also mentioned that she was assigned to reach out to pregnant women and women who already gave birth.
The young woman fortunately saw right through the deceptive facade and warned Atiqah “not to make a fool out of other people”.
She also inquired about Fatin’s qualifications and was merely told by Atiqah to visit her TikTok account. Being given vague details, the young woman demanded Atiqah to send her a picture of herself but she was still skeptical about Atiqah’s identity reveal.
Netizens warned the young woman that this was probably a “pervert” impersonating as a health officer to harass mothers to look at their body parts.
Many also alleged that there were many incidents of this nature were shared on social media.
On the other hand, private breastfeeding consultant Fatin Mazelan got wind of these scammers’ activities and has lodged a police report and had clarified that she had not appointed anyone to become her “breastfeeding mentee”.
“I had to bury my Telegram group that I had built for almost 5 years!
“I am aware that my name was used by these scammers because I’m the only one with the name Fatin Mazelan who made a group helping women breastfeed on Telegram,” she said in her Facebook post.
