New scam targets those indebted to loan sharks, says Michael Chong

KUALA LUMPUR: Borrowing money from loan sharks is already stressful, but a new wave of deceit has emerged as scammers now attempt to intercept payments from victims to these illicit lenders.

One such victim is a 36-year-old who wanted to be known only as Ah Chung, who lost RM1,000 to a scammer after borrowing money for personal use.

Ah Chung borrowed RM2,000 from a loan shark known as Lee on July 25 after receiving a sudden offer to borrow money through a text message.

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Ah Chung then paid RM1,000 back to Lee shortly after on July 27 but was met with extortion as Lee demanded an additional RM10,000, threatening to expose Ah Chung’s family details online if the amount was not paid by 6pm the same day.

Ah Chung lodged a police report against Lee on Aug 1, only to receive a suspicious call from Lee’s alleged manager, who identified himself as Samuel, on Aug 2.

“Samuel claimed that the police investigator in charge of my case wanted us to settle it and told me to pay the remaining RM2,000 debt I owed to Lee, including a previously agreed upon RM1,000 interest payment,” Ah Chung said at a press conference at Wisma MCA on Thursday (Aug 22).

He then transferred RM1,000 to the bank account provided by Samuel the next day, only to continue receiving calls from Lee, who insisted he had not received any payment from Ah Chung and did not know who Samuel was.

After seeking help from MCA Public Services and Complaints Department (PSCD) head Datuk Seri Michael Chong, Ah Chung and Lee met for discussion at Chong’s office at Wisma MCA on Aug 6.

In another similar case, a 52-year-old housewife known as Lau said a scammer posed as a manager for a loan shark in an attempt to extort money from her family.

Having already settled her daughter’s more than RM150,000 loan shark debt in 2023, Lau was surprised to receive a message from someone claiming to be the “manager” of the loan shark they had previously settled with on Aug 5.

The “manager,” who identified himself as Mike, claimed the family still owed RM1,250 and threatened to expose their details online and burn their car if not paid.

After Lau reached out to MCA’s PSCD, Chong tried to arrange a meeting with Mike on Aug 13, but it resulted in another no-show.

Chong believes these cases are part of a new sophisticated scam tactic conducted either by the same person or a group.

“At first, we thought this could have been part of loan sharks’ new tactics to further extort money. But seeing that Lee was willing to meet with us to settle the issue while Samuel did not, it’s clear that these scammers may be operating independently.

“The way these scammers spoke was also full of authority and professionalism, akin to a real manager, which is not something common among loan sharks,” Chong added.