Scammers using dupe wedding invites to scam unsuspecting victims, says Michael Chong

KUALA LUMPUR: Scammers are using malicious links disguised as wedding invitations to steal contact numbers to dupe unsuspecting victims into sending them money, says Datuk Seri Michael Chong.

The MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head, at a press conference Tuesday (Nov 25), said that the incident was brought to his attention after a number belonging to Strata Owners Association Malaysia president Datuk Theng Book had messaged him regarding a wedding invite.

Book, who was at the press conference, said that he was locked out of his WhatsApp account after clicking on a similar link that was sent to him by a retired policeman.

“After that any calls made to me via WhatsApp would not come through but go instead to the scammers. I believe the scammer had targeted my contact list and had messaged them masquerading as myself.

“The scammer then messaged my contacts, including Chong, the so-called wedding link to spread the ‘virus’, and to also ask for money.

“At least one of my contacts actually sent around RM3,000 to the bank account that was sent by the scammer thinking it was a loan for myself,” he said.

He added that he was forced to reformat his phone to regain control of his account after 24 hours.

He also said that online calls to the phone directly and not through the application would go through.

“I also had to call my bank to stop any transactions from going out,” he said.

Chong, who organised the press conference, said that scammers were more sophisticated nowadays and would target known personalities for their contact books.

“Now we have to call our friends and family just to check if they had indeed sent any links to confirm,” he said.