PETALING JAYA: A scam syndicate offering part-time jobs purportedly with popular e-commerce platform Lazada has fleeced its victims of about RM220,000 since February.
Selangor police commercial crimes investigations department (CCID) head ACP Muhammad Yazid Muhammad Yew said today the syndicate claiming to be an agent of Lazada had offered part-time work as an “online purchasing agent” through messages sent via the WhatsApp application.
He said victims were sent a link of a product on Lazada which they are required to purchase and pay for directly into a bank account provided by the syndicate and not by the usual process of paying through the e-commerce website.
“The syndicate claimed that the purpose of doing so was to increase the ratings of a product and the victim would be reimbursed the payment with a commission of between 8% and 15%.
The reimbursement and commissions are usually paid to the victims for the first two assignments. However, when the third one is given, the payment is deliberately delayed before the syndicate is no longer reachable by victims, causing them losses.” he said.
Muhammad Yew said between Feb 6 and today, police have received 23 police reports on the scam with losses amounting to almost RM220,000.
He urged the public to be wary of the scam and not fall victim to the syndicate.
