Police detain 8 individuals involved in 'Scratch and Win' scam -

04 June 2013

JOHOR BAHARU : Police have crippled a syndicate which ran a 'scratch and win' scam to deceive victims into believing that they would win prizes in the form of luxury cars and electronic goods following the arrest of eight individuals in the city, last Tuesday.

Johor Chief Police Officer (CPO) Datuk Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff said they were all detained after police received reports from several victims including Singaporeans who had lost thousands of ringgit.  

"In order to convince the victims, the suspects had showed newspaper cuttings on the luxury cars purportedly won by other participants.

"The fact isthat the suspects had provided 'scratch and win' cards which would not enable the victims to win any prize in the form of the luxury cars and electrical items shown," he told reporters at the Johor Police Contingent Headquarters, here today.    

Mohd Mokhtar said the victims who were attracted to the prizes had handed over a substantial amount of money purportedly as tax to open a new draw in the same 'scratch and win' card.  

Relief for scratch and win victims

Monday April 22, 2013 

JOHOR BARU: Two people who were conned in a scratch and win scam totalling RM12,308 managed to get their money back after the Consumer Claims Tribunal ruled in their favour.

President M. Suppiah awarded RM9,000 to a woman who works in Singapore and RM3,308 to a teacher who were both conned separately near City Square Mall and a hypermarket in Taman Universiti recently.

In the first case, the victim, known only as Teh, said that she was walking to City Square Mall when four people including a woman approached her.

“They coaxed me into participating and they told me that I had won and had to go to Taman Sentosa to collect an energy water system,” she said, adding that at the office they wanted her to sign a document and asked her to pay RM9,000 to collect her prize.

The woman claimed that she agreed to pay up because she was scared after being confronted by several men who insisted that she pay up before they let her go.

She added that they then took her to several ATM’s to withdraw the money before allowing her to leave.

“They tried to give me the water system but I refused to take it and then lodged a police report,” she said, adding that she then lodged a complaint with the tribunal.

In the other case, a 45-year-old primary school teacher who declined to be named, said that she was out shopping for a vacuum cleaner when she was approached by a salesman giving her some cards to scratch.

She added that she was informed that she had won a microwave oven, a halogen cooker and a RM100 voucher.

“However, to redeem my prize, I had to pay an electrical appliance at the outlet,” she said, adding that she had to fork out RM3,308 to purchase a vacuum cleaner and a multi-cooker.

The teacher claimed that she felt cheated after she discovered that all the items that she had purchased were not certified by Sirim and she was worried to use the appliances.

Suppiah ordered both scratch and win companies to refund the monies within 14 days and directed the teacher to return the goods she got.

Scratch-and-win syndicate targets Malacca

Tuesday July 23, 2013

MALACCA: More than a dozen housewives and retirees in the state have fallen victim to a scratch-and-win scam operated by a syndicate from Singapore and Johor.

The syndicate is believed to be preying on members of the public during Ramadan, with offers of up to RM1.5mil worth of prizes in luxury cars and electronic equipment.

The latest victims were two housewives, aged 27 and 34, who lost RM13,300 over the weekend.

The syndicate, comprising mostly teenagers who sought payment of a “tax” for the prizes, is believed to have moved its operations to Malacca after Johor Baru police cracked down on its members early last month.

Retired teacher Dzukifli Khalid, 66, from Melekek in Alor Gajah, said he almost lost RM3,300 in “tax” when he was approached by three young men while grocery shopping on July 18.

“They approached me at the parking lot while I was getting out from my car. One of them handed me a sealed envelope and asked me to open it. Inside was a card with the message, ‘Congratulations, you have won RM1.5mil’,” he said in an interview.

Dzukilfli said the three youths began jumping in joy, claiming that he was the lucky one because no one had ever won such a huge amount.

He was also convinced to pay RM3,300 as “tax” for the prize.

He said luckily for him, police managed to force the syndicate leader to refund his “tax” money the next day.

Malacca deputy commercial crime chief Deputy Supt Chan Teck Paing said that to convince their victims, the syndicate members would show them pictures of people who had purportedly won the cars.

The victims, he said, were conned into believing they could collect their prizes after forking out the “tax”.