Manjung district police chief ACP Hasbullah Abd Rahman said the Commercial Crime Investigation Division of the Manjung district police headquarters (IPD) received a report yesterday regarding the modus operandi used by the suspect, and further investigations are underway.

Preliminary investigations found that the suspect had used the name, photograph, and phone number of a teacher through the WhatsApp application before sending messages to the parents of students, allegedly for the purpose of collecting payments for the school’s academic programme.

“The suspect also sent a modified payment QR code using the school’s name to convince the victims to make the payment to the suspect’s account,” he said in a statement yesterday. 

Hasbullah said his team believes the modus operandi aims to deceive parents by exploiting their trust in the school.

The public is advised to verify with the school before making any payments and not to trust payment instructions received via WhatsApp, and to ensure that the QR code or bank account used is the official school account.

“If you have fallen victim to fraud, the public should immediately contact the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) at 997 or inform the bank and file a police report promptly to assist in the investigation,” he said.

He also advised the public to always be vigilant and not be easily deceived by any payment requests received via messages without confirmation from the relevant parties.

He added that any information related to commercial crime can be channelled to the nearest police station or contact the Manjung IPD Operations Room at 05-688 6222 or the WhatsApp hotline at 017-682 8005. — Bernama