THEY WILL ASK thee as to what they should spend on others. Say: "Whatever of your wealth you spend shall [first] be for your parents, and for the near of kin, and the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer; and whatever good you do, verily, God has full knowledge thereof." - Al-Baqarah (2:215)
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Monday 3 December 2007

RM20,000 cash prize!

You never took part in any competition.

You never bought any lottery tickets.

You were never told that there would be any kind of lucky draw or anything of that sort when you topped up your prepaid phone line.

Suddenly you got a text message saying that you just won RM20,000 in cash through your SIM card!!! Oh wow, durian runtuh!! So much money without doing anything!! Would you actually believe it?

Yep, that was what happened to Fuzi. She got a text message today, supposedly from Celcom, saying that she just won RM20,000 through her SIM card. She was then asked to call a number, purportedly Celcom’s care line number. So she called the number, asked if that was Celcom, and the guy at the other end said yes and verified that she had indeed won RM20,000. Fuzi was then asked to give her full details, including a Maybank account number to enable the organizers to bank in the amount into Fuzi’s bank account. Fuzi got all excited. Imagine the many things she can do with such a big amount.

The only thing that was stopping her was that she didn’t have a Maybank account. She was told that she needs to give all details within 1 day to be entitled to the “winnings”. Thank God she didn’t have a Maybank account. Because of that she decided to call me to confirm if this was for real. If I said it probably was true, then she would probably seek my help to open an account with Maybank. It seems, it is not easy for a non-citizens to open a Maybank savings account.

The moment Fuzi told me that she had won RM20,000 in cash through her SIM card, I knew it was one of those scams. You don’t get money that easily. Even to win a lottery, you’d have to buy a lottery ticket first! I told Fuzi that was probably just a scam; but Fuzi said, “Betul kak, dia tulis ini nombor Celcom Care Line, dan saya sudah cuba telefon dan orang tu kata memang betul saya menang wang tu! Namanya Aziz.”

When I argued that she may end up losing money instead of getting any, she said, the guy she spoke to just asked for her details without asking her to bank in any money anywhere. But of course… they don’t ask for your money straightaway. It would have been too obvious!

She did feel a bit unsure after listening to me, but sought my help to call the number just to make sure. I asked Fuzi to give me the number given that was purportedly Celcom’s Care Line number. I know the actual Care Line number. So, Fuzi forwarded to me the number… it’s 006281543128914. No way was I going to call that number. I told Fuzi straight away that was NOT the care line number and that she had just been duped. Fuzi argued, “Tapi kak, dia tulis sini ini nombor Celcom Care Line! Betul kak!”

Aiyo… so bendul this woman… a conman wouldn’t give out business cards saying he’s a conman, would he?! Can you imagine a man coming up to you saying, “Maafkan saya puan, saya ni penipu. Puan baru menang hadiah wang RM10,000.”

Actually if all the emails informing me that I had won a certain amount of cash just from my email address were true, I am already a multi-millionaire by now! The prize winnings that I had been notified of were never anywhere below 1 million USD!

Thank God Fuzi didn’t have a Maybank account. If she did, she would have probably already been conned.

I can’t really blame Fuzi for believing. She is not highly educated and for someone who most of the time stays inside her house, she’s not really exposed to the “outside world”. In other words, she’s an easy prey. I’m just glad God protected her this time.

Now… where’s that email I got from Africa saying that I’d get a 50% share of a USD20 million inheritance if I help them out. I can do lots of things with my share of USD10 million…

I'M RICH! I'M RICH!

28 comments:

kina said...

Yahoooo makcik kayo!!

that wud be my expression if i win the RM20k

menang RM 100 from the chipsmore contest pun dah kepoh like mad! kekekekeee

Fuzi is lucky that she does not have the MB acct.

Kesian kalu dia kena con. hopefully she is aware of the scratch & win scam too.

winniethepooh said...

good thing Fuzi didnt hv an an a/c and she called u!

these conman are still using the same trick over and over again even with warnings, people still fall for it..thats sad to know.

when i received those emails, its just goes straight away to the spam folder..duhh..:P

hv a great week ahead Pi bani!

Salt N Turmeric said...

Pi, not just the uneducated ones yg termakan the bait. how many businessmen and professionals already succumbed to this? semua nak cepat kayo! berapa kali dah masuk paper orang complain kena tipu and yet still ppl tak sedar2. sigh..

Typhoon Sue said...

hahahaha

i got these SMSes soooooo many times, i would've been richer than Bill Gates by now if it were all true.

Just last month, i got this SMS from a foreign no (i think it's indonesian no), saying I won RM77,000.00. Why RM77K? Why SMS from Indonesia? Why not notify in writing? Why not hold a big press conference to announce a winner so u can get more publicity?

Sadly, many ppl are not sceptical enough to ask questions. They are so gullible, they would believe anything. That's why everyday we can read in the newspapers about some ppl being conned out of their life savings and so on.

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

damn...bloody baarger these people. you know, if only these are genuine lucky draws, i would have been a millionaire by now living somewhere in alaska with farina.

imagine, i received the same sms coming from the same number, or at least from this 0062 number infront and was told the same exact thing, i've won rm15000. then, like you, an african prince wanted to part his USD17mil with me and the latest was that i was a lucky visitor at certain site that i had won USD999,999. again, if only there's no such thing as conman in this world we live in, i would have ditched you guys for being of different social class...kahkah...

ok, back to reality.

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

tyhoon sue,

yea the number comes from indonesia. i called them up once and a man with a thick indon slang was at the other end. unless ofcos celcom have now employed foreigners which i'm not aware of.

Pi Bani said...

Kina:
I menang hair dryer masa lucky draw pun cukup thrill dah... sebab biasanya I never win anything. :)

Scratch & win? Tu satu lagi. Sampai ke parking lot depa ikut. Rimas dibuatnya!

Winnie:
Yep, people are easily blinded by money (or just the possibility of getting a large amount of money). So gullible despite all the warnings.

Pi Bani said...

Princessjournals:
Ha'ah la... even things like black money people boleh percaya. Orang yang dah memang kaya pun boleh tertipu. Hai, duit punya pasal...

Typhoon Sue:
I pun kalau ikutkan by now dah ada harta berjuta-juta... ;)

Betul lah, some people would believe anything. Like Fuzi, when I told her the number was not Celcom's, she insisted it was, because it was written as such in the SMS she got. And when somebody answered her call, to her it was proof that the SMS was genuine. Senangnya nak tipu dia...

Pi Bani said...

Kerp:
After I posted this entry, I got another email about a USD25 million inheritance. Usually, I'd send these emails direct to the spam folder without even reading them. This particular one, siap dengan subject "To Madam Pi Bani". I baca jugalah contentsnya because sometimes my blog readers use such headings to write to me. Lepas tu bila baca contents, baru baca intro I terus delete ajelah... buang masa aje baca...

As for the Indonesian number, yes I believe the number Fuzi got was also an Indonesian number. That's why I refused to call when Fuzi asked me to call the number to verify. Ngabihkan duit aje buat apa?! Dah memang sah sah bukan nombor Celcom!

Anonymous said...

Nasib baik la takde maybank a/c.....
-niasulaiman-

DCampbell aka Puteri said...

Can't understand how some people can be so easily duped! Haven't they heard/read about those who lost their money from these scams?!

There are so many scam artists in Malaysia! :-( Never heard of such phone scams here. Only those internet scams from Africa.

Unknown said...

Kak Pi,
Alahai, senang-senang dapat duit. Ish3x. Tak report kat Celcom ke?
Lucky fuzi called you first. Kalau tak..... ish3x. Mau dia pegi nukak acount kot!
Our people need a better faculty of reasoning regarding in this issue.Kalau tak, sampai bila benda ni tak habis.
Duit,duit....
Good day(",).

Pi Bani said...

Niasulaiman:
Memang nasib baik... and I do hope Fuzi's not thinking about it anymore.

Puteri:
There are so many scam artists in Malaysia because there are so many easy preys! Even if they only get 1% response to the scams, these conmen still make money. Somehow there are bound to be people who easily falls for these scams.

Akmal:
Yep, lucky thing Fuzi called me. And lucky she doesn't already have a Maybank account. To open a new account, she'd need money - and that is also something she doesn't have much right now. Maybe if I was just as gullible as she was, she would have wanted to borrow some money first to open up the account and promise to pay once she gets the RM20K! At the end of the day, there'd be 2 victims instead of one...

Nightwing said...

Helo Kak Pi,

Ya, lucky she call you.

I heard from a friend (not sure if it is true or not), nowadays, loan sharks also got new ways of getting their business.

If they found out there is some one applying personal loans from banks..They call up, and say they are from which bank...and even have ur correct address (i think ada inside job)...

They asked for ur account number and say they will bank in the money. Once they have it..they will bank in the money....but in a week's time, they will call up and chase for payment on the loan. Its where the interest nightmare begins.

Pi Bani said...

Nightwing:
I once got a call from a lady who introduced herself as a representative of a bank of which I'm a credit card holder. Konon-konon I was entitled to a club membership. She then asked for my credit card number and expiry date as confirmation that I was actually the card holder. Cheh! She thought I so stupid to fall for that, eh? If I had actually given her those info, the next question she'd ask would be the last 3 digits behind the card...

Adoii... too many conmen around lah!

Unknown said...

Hello Pi,

Not only people like Fuzi gets duped, educated people also get duped for the promise lah. It is so tempting when you see all the zeroes almost within your grasp..Geewhiz!

Quite regularly, I would receive scam mails as well. I normally would delete immediately, but if I needed a laugh at that moment, I would read for entertainment and then delete of course! Ha ha.

Pak Zawi said...

Pi,
Salam,
Bila pulang dari Kl? cuba juga intai kat TV kalau kalau gambar u keluar masa coverage World AIDs Day.
Macam macam cara nak tipu orang. Dunia dunia.

Pi Bani said...

K.Ruby:
Yeah, the so many zeroes seem to make people go blind sampai lupa nak think of the logic behind things. Greed, greed, greed.

Zawi:
Actually I didn't attend the launching of the World AIDS Day in KL. I had wanted to go and attend the conferences as well, but by the time I wanted to register, we were told there were no more places available. Maybe some other time...

nyonyapenang said...

Hi Pi Bani,

I also got one sms from this purported Celcom number lar...to inform me I won RM15,000! I just ignored it...tooooo goooood to be true....

Daphne Ling said...

Hi Kak Pi,

Haih...I am not even going to try and make excuses for Fuzi's naiveness...

Bendul is correct...Haih...

US$ 20 million huh? That's nothing! I get like US$ 100 million almost everyday! =)

Daphne Ling said...

Oh Kak Pi,

As for the businessmen and professionals (Yang Princess mention), I think it was their greed which made them bendul...

They all: Greedy, then become bendul...

Others, maybe the other way round: Bendul, then become greedy...

Thank God Fuzi called you...

Salt N Turmeric said...

mintak lalu Pi,

Kerp, me not in alaska! :P kalau kayo nanti bolehlah bukak resort kat alaska and kita ramai2 holiday sana ok? ;

Pi Bani said...

NyonyaPenang:
Aiya! How come you won ONLY RM15K? ;)

Daphne:
Actually before Fuzi called me, she had already called another colleague of mine whom she knew had a Maybank account. She wanted to BORROW his account!!! My friend told her it's a scam. She didn't want to believe. So my friend was the one who told her to call me. Imagine if my friend also just as bendul, he'd be the one who will end up losing money instead!!!

Pi Bani said...

Princessjournals & Kerp:
Nak buka resort kat Alaska aje ke? Hey, with me winning at least USD1 million EACH DAY, can buka resort in so many places lah!

Anonymous said...

Dear All,

Yg hairannya tak kan Celcom tak tahu numbor dari Indon ni ?

Celcom patut ambil tindakan segera bukan tunggu complaint dari customer, ye tak ?

TM/Celcom kerja macam gomen jugak ke ?
Third class work mentality.

BTW, I am using 019 too.

Regards.

Nanai Cheras

Pi Bani said...

Nani:
Soalan tu Celcom lah kena jawab kot...

The Pisces Man said...

U r soo right Kak Pi... I too receive such scam emails saying a reputable company had selected me as a lottery prize winner.

Then, this particular email about how I will inherit the fortune of some wealthy but deceased person who lived in a war-torn country.

What's more annoying is the fact that I have to sort out my emails, deleting all those rubbish first, before reading those I want to read.

So, what's ur email? I'm a scammer/spammer too, hahahahahhaa..

Pi Bani said...

Pisces Man:
If you are indeed a spammer, and you don't know where to get my email address, then I must say you are a lousy spammer! How I wish all spammers are like you... ;)