7/09/2025

NATIONAL 5 theSun on Sunday SEPT 7, 2025

‘Scammers exploit human behaviour to trap victims’

TUARAN: Preliminary police investigations have found that the multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) involved in a crash that killed five Mara Skills Institute students in Jalan Gayang on Friday was speeding before losing control and colliding with a lorry. Tuaran police chief Supt Noraidin Ag Maidin said the vehicle, heading from Kota Kinabalu towards Kota Belud, is believed to have gone out of control before veering into the opposite lane. “This caused the MPV to crash into a lorry that was transporting stones from Tuaran towards Kota Kinabalu,” he said in a statement yesterday. He added that all the victims, who were trapped inside the vehicle, were extricated by Tuaran Fire and Rescue Department personnel before their bodies were sent to the Tuaran Hospital for post-mortem. The case is being investigated under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987, and several individuals have had their statements recorded to assist in the investigations, he added. “Anyone with information on the crash is urged to contact traffic investigation officer Insp Haffiz at 011-6160 0964 or visit the nearest police station,” he said. The incident occurred at 2.09pm in front of the People’s Volunteer Corps training centre in Jalan Gayang. Mara chairman Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said he has ordered immediate assistance for the families of the five students, identified as Ikhwan Kurniawan, Harianto Anuar, Danial Sarag, Mohamad Zuhaikal and Neil Stanley Pletinie. Asyraf said he has instructed the Sabah Mara director and the Kota Kinabalu Mara Skills Institute management to immediately contact the affected families and provide all necessary assistance, including facilitating funeral arrangements. – Bernama MPV in Tuaran crash case was speeding: Police SMS scam ring using illegal device crippled SMS illegal telecommunication equipment known as Fake Base Transceiver Station (Fake BTS) has been crippled under Ops Pancing, a joint operation by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and police. In a statement yesterday, MCMC said intelligence work and public information led to the arrest of an individual operating a Fake BTS device in a vehicle near a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur recently. “Checks found the equipment functioning as a Fake BTS in active mode and frequency tests confirmed it was used to transmit fraudulent SMS containing phishing links and gambling-related messages to the public.” Following the arrest, MCMC with police assistance raided a double-storey terrace house in Kota Kemuning, Shah Alam, which was used to store vehicles, including a multi-purpose vehicle and communication devices linked to Fake BTS activities. “A total of 45 items worth about RM100,000 were seized, while another individual’s statement was recorded to assist further investigations,” the statement added. The case is being investigated under Section 239(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, which provides for a maximum fine of RM1 million or up to 10 years’ imprisonment, or both. – Bernama using PUTRAJAYA: fraudulent A syndicate spreading

Syndicate members use threats, persuasion and play with emotions, leaving individuals vulnerable to manipulation, says psychologist

Ű BY FAIZ RUZMAN newsdesk@thesundaily.com

PETALING JAYA: Scammers no longer rely on hacking systems – they hack people. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia psychologist Dr Zulfikar Ahmad said syndicates today succeed not through technical breaches but by exploiting human behaviour, a tactic widely known as social engineering. “Humans will always be human. When scammers cannot penetrate a secure system, they target people instead. Manipulation works through threats, persuasion and exploiting emotions,” he told theSun . According to him, victims are often overwhelmed by fear, urgency or confusion, which leaves them vulnerable to manipulation. “Scammers use authority, tone of voice and urgency. When victims do not resist, aggressors escalate. That is how the psychological trap works.” Zulfikar said the public should not assume that education or professional background provides immunity. “Even lawyers and programmers have been deceived. The scammer’s strength lies not in technology but in reading and manipulating human reactions,” he added. He said syndicates often tailor their approaches – older people, unfamiliar with digital systems, are more vulnerable to financial scams, while romance scams prey on those seeking companionship and acceptance. “The consequences are not only financial. They can shatter marriages, trigger lasting shame, and in extreme cases, even result in suicide,” he added. One case shows how quickly a routine encounter can unravel. A 28-year-old woman thought she was answering a harmless query when she returned a call about a parcel supposedly linked to her identity card. The call, which appeared to come from Pos Malaysia, soon escalated into a nightmare. “I was told a parcel addressed to someone else had my IC inside it. The caller said I should lodge a police report, but directed me not to my local station but to Bukit Mertajam police,” she said. She was asked to leave her office, stay on the line and read a script once the call was “transferred” to an officer. Believing she was speaking to enforcement authorities, she disclosed her IC and bank details. “They accused me of being part of a syndicate led by Wong Swee Chin, or Botak Chin, and claimed illegal money had been found in my Tabung Haji account.

Zulfikar said older people, unfamiliar with digital systems, are more vulnerable to financial scams, while romance scams prey on those seeking companionship and acceptance. – ILLUSTRATIVE PIC BY SYED AZAHAR SYED OSMAN/THESUN

2024 to 9,090 this year. Operational since October 2022, the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) was recently expanded to a 24-hour one-stop unit under the Home Ministry and police. Between July 7 and 31 alone, an additional RM1.67 million was successfully secured compared with the same period last year. “The effective, integrated operation of the NSRC has built public confidence that the ministry, through police, is serious about combating cybercrime threats,” the ministry said. But Zulfikar stressed that enforcement alone is not enough. “At the end of the day, the weakest link is still human behaviour. That is what scammers know, and that is what they exploit. Awareness must be constant, and people must learn to question rather than comply when faced with pressure,” he said.

“I was threatened with arrest warrants from Bukit Aman before being ‘transferred’ again to the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission,” she recounted. Under pressure, she withdrew RM10,000 and deposited the sum in two transactions into an account given by the scammers, who demanded hourly updates on WhatsApp. It was only later, after installing a caller identification app, that she realised the number originated from Indonesia. By then, her money was gone. Police later told her the funds were unlikely to be recovered. Zulfikar said such cases highlight how scammers weaponise psychology. “They observe hesitation, then push harder. Victims comply because resisting authority feels riskier in the moment,” he said. In a written reply to Senator Tiew Way Keng on Sept 4, the Home Ministry said scam call reports increased from 7,425 in

Man found dead in car at petrol station SUNGAI PETANI: The body of a 51-year old man was discovered in a car parked at a petrol station in Bandar Perdana near here on Friday.

statement yesterday. He added that investigations did not point to any criminal elements. “The victim had a prior medical history. The body has been sent to the Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital here for a post-mortem,” he said. – Bernama

Choras in Pendang. “At 3.15pm, we received a call about a car that had been parked at a petrol station in Bandar Perdana since last Thursday. Inside was a man who showed no signs of movement, and the vehicle emitted a foul odour,” he said in a

Kuala Muda police chief ACP Hanyan Ramlan said the victim was identified as Amear Mat Isa from Kampung Bukit