Macau scam thrives because of ‘kautim’ culture

 

The number of Macau scam victims has been alarming, with new reports surfacing a few times a week of late.

Total losses have run into hundreds of millions of ringgit with victims being mainly those with a fair bit of cash in their bank accounts. Unfortunately, those hit appear to be mostly females and from the older generation.

What was shocking to many was a report four days ago of a 47-year-old female bank officer losing RM104,000 after passing her account details to those claiming to be from Bank Negara Malaysia.

How such a senior bank officer could part with so much money is indeed perplexing, to say the least. Of course we have seen Macau scams with teachers, retirees, company executives, civil servants and DJs among the victims but this was the first time a bank officer had been duped.

Three days ago, a former civil servant lost RM1.63 million. These are only among the reported cases. I wonder how many go unreported, especially cases involving ill-gotten gains. The victims may fear lodging police reports because they will be asked to explain their source of income.

Some are hit despite knowing that they only have savings which are legally obtained with all taxes settled. One of the victims said the fear of going to the police station is among the reasons why she opted to “kautim” (meaning settle in Cantonese). But why “kautim” when you are innocent, many may ask.

The famous “kautim” appears to have become part of our culture; even the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission once declared it a bad word because it is used to reflect graft.

Many of the reported victims are educated females with a decent amount of savings in the bank, hard-earned savings, like retired civil servants who get a lump sum gratuity after decades of service.

It’s a real heartache for them to lose their entire savings, with no chance of getting it back. While we have read of the unending scams, we do not see much reports on culprits being prosecuted.

It is clear that the main reason that the scam succeeds is that the victims fear the law enforcers such as the police, the Inland Revenue Department, court officials and the Customs department.

The moment certain people receive a call, some with automated messages, telling you that action will be taken against you for money laundering or evading taxes, Malaysians tend to freeze. Even if they are as innocent as a lamb.

In one case, the modus operandi involved asking the victim to call a number allegedly belonging to a police headquarters to “kautim” an offence. When she called the number, which was that of the office concerned, an officer told her it was a scam and to ignore it.

These scammers are obviously targeting those with a decent amount of savings in their bank accounts. So some are asking if this could involve inside sources who sell this information to the scammers.

Of course the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (PDPA) protects all such information from being leaked out but many don’t think it’s fool proof. We know it has been breached numerous times.

For example, a retired teacher who had deposited her entire gratuity of RM300,000 received a call soon after she left the bank from an unknown number claiming to be a mutual trust investment agent.

He told her there was a plan which will bring huge dividends compared to interest from a fixed deposit, and offered to be her financial planner. Coincidence? Of course not!

Some are also wondering why is it that difficult to track down the owners of the bank accounts to which the monies are transferred or banked in. Police have unfettered authority and access when it comes to probing money laundering activities.

As for using Automated Teller Machines, the CCTV cameras will show you clearly who is transferring the cash into an account. The lethargic action in tracking down the syndicates is causing much concern actually.

The victims are definitely part of this huge problem but the authorities must stop putting the blame entirely on them. The fact that Malaysians are continuously falling prey to Macau scam operatives shows there is also an enforcement problem as well.

Over the last two and a half years, 5,527 Macau scam cases involving RM327.9mil in losses have been recorded.

May Malaysians and the police resolve to wipe out Macau scams in 2022, bringing an end to the “kautim” culture. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.