THE JPJ (Road Transport Department) has again issued a warning to the public about scammers who are offering forged driving licences through online channels. While the illegal practice is not something new, it remains prevalent, especially on social media.
The warning on the forged driving licences – also called ‘lesen terbang’ (flying licence) – was given by the JPJ’s Deputy Director (Management), M. Janagarajan, in Kota Bharu recently. He said that the scam is widespread and appealed to the public to be cautious and obtain their driving licences using only the correct and legitimate procedures.
This, of course, means undergoing the necessary lessons at a registered driving school and taking an examination. Once the examination and driving test are passed, then a Probationary license will be issued for 2 years before the motorist can get a full Competent Driver’s Licence.
However, there are members of the public who try to avoid having to do through the proper procedures and these are the people whom the scammers offer the forged driving licences to. These invalid licences are not recorded in the JPJ computers and also, those who buy them will be committing an offence as they have not actually undergone a driving test and passed it.
“If a driver obtains a licence by such means (from scammers), he or she does not really have a valid licence,” the JPJ officer said.
Besides forged driving licences which are sold by syndicates that are believed to have been in existence some time, there are also scammers who will offer fake driving licences through social media such as Facebook or Whatsapp, collect money in advance but do not deliver anything.
The issue of forged Malaysian driving licences has also come to light as far away as Australia. In April last year, a Malaysian stopped for speeding was found to be in possession of a Malaysian driving licence which was invalid. The Australian police discovered this after they checked on the JPJ website and found inconsistencies with the licence.
Having been alerted, the Australian police probably gave more attention to motorists with Malaysian driving licences and sure enough, another two were also caught and charged.
There are no short-cuts to getting a licence to drive a car or ride a motorcycle (or operate a commercial vehicle). Everyone has to go through the procedures of learning and then being tested to ensure that they are competent and will (hopefully) be safe road-users.
