Enough is Enough !

After the previous incident, I had been scammed...

...again...

...again...

...and again...

"Am Autumn Oliver by name"??? Who the hell talks like that??? Did they Google translate Nigerian??? Can't they hire scammers with better English proficiency???

This was when I said to myself, enough! And I took down the advertisement on Mudah and decided never to post anything on it ever again. Unbelievable number of scammers! Gosh!

I have (almost) been scammed!

Yes, I have! And I survived to tell the tale...

The Baiting Stage

Like all scams, it began with greed. I posted an advertisement on Mudah to sell my used camera. The price I fixed was RM600, equivalent to USD133.75. It's amazing such a low price can attract scammers. I'm officially amazed.

Anyway, I received a WhatsApp message the next day, from a +234 number, a Nigerian country code. If you type "mudah nige" into Google search bar, these are the first things that come up.

Haven't even complete the word "nigerian", Google search bar tells it all.

The seemingly interested buyer, refer henceforth as "the Nigerian", told me he was from UK and wanted to buy the camera for his cousin in Sabah. He asked me to check the postage fee to Sabah, which I did. It was about RM16 via PosLaju.

Without much questions, the Nigerian asked for my banking details and immediately transferred RM1050 to my account. And all these, were confirmed by his bank, the First Direct Bank. The payable amount was only RM616 including postage, but he paid in excess of RM434. Now, this is the bait.

The Pre-Scamming Stage

According to the email from First Direct Bank, I needed to provide proof of postage before they would credit the money into my bank account, apparently to avoid money laundering.

First email from the bank. My bank account number is the number of times I died and reincarnated.

I was again amazed by how badly-written and unprofessional the email sounded, not the mention the grammatical errors. Can't I be impressed by a more skilled scammer? How can these scammers survive in such a challenging and harsh environment? How do they even compete with the better scammers?

So the Nigerian insisted that I post him the camera today, right away. Since I was bored, and have all the time in the world (don't ask why), so I played along.

Conversation with the Nigerian Part 1. The tracking number is a lottery number I trust will be announced this week.

He then asked for the PosLaju receipt, but of course I didn't have it. I just forged some Maybank2U online payment slip, took a picture and sent to him. It was a photo after all so I guess he couldn't tell that it was a fake. I even forged a PosLaju consignment note (don't ask how) and sent back to his First Direct Bank.

The Real Scam Stage 1

Now this was when the real thing came. He made a payment in excess of RM400! So, how? He asked me. F***ing call your bank and make changes, I suggested. But the problem was, the bank said no, apparently for security reasons. Wow, such customer service. And such high security.

Okay fine, I would refund the money after the transaction had been done successfully. Bank said no again, they needed to see the refund before they could credit my account. I repeatedly demanded reasoning behind this, as I wanted to see how clever they could get and what excuses they could come up with to get around with this. But the Nigerian guy kept saying it could not be done, I had to refund the money first etc. He just kept repeating the same thing, like a retard.

Conversation with the Nigerian Part 2. He wanted to delay my suspicion before the camera could reach him.

Conversation with the Nigerian Part 3. I made him believe that I will refund RM250 to him.

So I gave him what he wanted. I refunded the money to him. Of course I forged a Maybank2U online transfer slip again, which made me realized how easily it could be done. Something to note for future reference - be it a scam or anything at all.

The Real Scam Stage 2

So what happens when you successfully cheated someone of RM250? The answer is simple. The more the merrier!

Of course the amount RM1050 is too little to be transferred. Nobody transfer that kind of money okay. Of course you need a minimum of RM2000. What is anything below RM2000? The bank was very regret to inform me that the transaction had failed, because apparently their valued customer, the Nigerian, had never had a transfer less than MYR2000.00 with them!

Second email from the bank. Transaction had failed. 

Seriously... How can anyone fall for this? And that was not all. In order to be able to transfer the money, he had made an additional transfer of RM950 into my account, so now I had to refund him this very amount as well. It's so fun right! We love transferring money from one to another!

By that time I was bored beyond hope. These scammers, they are just not creative enough. I felt lazy to entertain the Nigerian anymore so blocked that +234 number on WhatsApp. He then sent another message from another number saying that I was trying to scam him. LOL. Nice try, Nigerian.

Well that was the end of the scam and yes I had a good laugh. I had two names and a RHB account number, which I thought belong to the scammer, or at least to someone linked to him. I had thought of filing a police report but then, this amateur scammer, why had he not been caught? His skills were stupid and he gave out bank account numbers. Those who got scammed (if any) surely had reported to the police. The only reason he was still out there, either because the PDRM didn't bother, or because he was some insider with PDRM or had linkage with them. If I were to report him, and I had played him that way, would he track me down and come for revenge?

Anyway, I figured I should still provide the information here, on my blog, for the sake of all mankind. Whether or not I file a report is another story. Without further ado, let me introduce the cast:
Mr. D***head Aizad Razi (it only appeared in emails hence it could be a fake name)
Mr. F***face Mohd Afzan Afiq, owner of RHB account 15211200049444

Scammers, you can go to hell.

I received this email a moment ago. It said that my Maybank account has been flagged for security reasons and therefore I should verify my account details to avoid service suspension. It attached a link for me to continue with this action.

 

 My account has been flagged, it seems. (Click photo to enlarge)

When I clicked on the link it led me to a website which looks exactly like the real maybank2u, except that the URL was NOT maybank2u.com and it wasn't with a "https://". Websites with a "https://" was supposed to mean that it is a secured website and you're safe to give banking or credit card or any personal details.

A forged maybank2u.com. (Click photo to enlarge)

I immediately went to the real maybank2u website and send them a report to inform them of the scam.

Yup, it's a scam. The stupid fraud was hoping that some people could be innocent enough to give him their Maybank username and password. What an asshole.

Alerting the public with this blog post to be careful of this kind of scam. Always don't trust these emails. Think twice before you act. And consult other people before you do anything stupid and regretful.

Happy Chinese New Year !!!

The best Chinese New Year song I've heard so far.
Happy Chinese New Year, people!!!

Walk For World Pink

ATTENTION !!! THESE ARE NOT COUPLE T-SHIRTS !!!

Yup !!! We went to this event. Organized by Estee Lauder and some very famous brands. =) It's a breast cancer awareness thingy. The theme is, of course, pink. And the T-shirts are given, that's why all of us were wearing it.

Date : 3rd October 2009
Time : 5:30 p.m.
Venue : KL tower
Walk Distance : 3.9 km
Fees : RM30 (not inclusive of RM3 processing fees if paid online)
Objective : To raise breast cancer awareness
Reasons to invest RM30 : free T-shirt, goodie bag worth RM100, all-you-can-eat cereal + milk and milo... Wakakakakakaka...

YES !!! 3.9 km !!! We were supposed to walk 3.9 km around KL tower.


While waiting for the walk to start...

Notice my stiffness/numbness when taking pictures...

A sea of pink...

Yes, we learnt how to check for breast cancer...

Even Mix fm was there. They were distributing Estee Lauder perfume samples. I got one !!!

Who is this Mix fm deejay ???

The walk is about to start...

Are you ready ???!!!

Get, set, GO !!!

Pink people, rush forward !!!

On our way we passed by Hard Rock Hotel. Even Hard Rock is promoting breast cancer awareness. So cute !!!

Finally finished the loooooooooong walk... The sky was already dark...

Wanna go Luna Bar (on the roof of Pan Global building) !!!

Illuminated KL tower...

We've got goodie bags as reward for finishing the walk. I've got this Estee Lauder night essence thingy for preventing aging. I guess I should start now. *scared* I checked online and it's worth RM100.

Mr. Chin got this. And of course he doesn't need them so they're mine.

We finished the walk at about 7:50 p.m. There was a lucky draw at about 8:30 p.m. but because Manyee wanted to go back to Seremban so she can't stay too late. So all of us walked with her back to her car and initially we planned to go back for the lucky draw. But tiredness and hunger got better hold of us so we decided to go to KLCC for dinner instead. HAHA !!!

And then today, an amazing thing happened !!! I got a call from Estee Lauder and they told me I won a lucky draw that day !!! I was so surprised. I mean, if they don't get anyone onstage to claim the prize wouldn't they just re-draw it? Well I guess in this case they didn't. And they asked me to go claim the prize. It's a hamper from Sean John (forgive my ignorance but what brand is that?) worth RM500. But because I was to claim it from the Estee Lauder office so they're only available on weekdays office hour. Am wondering what should I do. Probably will go on 16th October since my company is giving that day off due to Deepavali celebration. Yeay!!! So lucky right? =)

Total investment : RM33 + RM33 = RM66
Goodie bag : RM100 + RM100 = RM200
Perfume sample : RM20 (approximately)
Lucky draw : RM500
Having to spend quality time with good friends : priceless

15Malaysia

This morning Shin Tien recommended me to watch the videos of 15Malaysia. 15Malaysia, a short film project, consists of 15 short films made by 15 talented local filmmakers, including Yasmin Ahmad and Namawee. I thought I'd share it with you people. Only two videos were released so far. I've watched them and they're pretty good. Looking forward to view the rest.

View the videos here. Enjoy. =)

Bukit Antarabangsa Landslide - a close encounter

5th December 2008
9:00 p.m.
Zilin arrived at my place in Oakleaf Park Condominium. We had dinner together and watched a bit of TV after. Nothing seemed unsual. Just an ordinary Friday night. We went to sleep at about 12:00 a.m.

6th December 2008
4:30 a.m.
I woke up from my slumber. Felt exceptionally warm. Why was the air-conditioner off? I remembered switching it on before I went to bed. I got up, checked the fuse box. It was okay. The corridor lights were still on, but the neighbour's porch light was out. Hmm... Strange. Too sleepy to think, I went back to bed.

8:45 a.m.
Still in semi-concious mode. Maroon 5 'makes me wonder' was playing at the background. That'd be my ringtone, I thought, and decided to ignore it. Five minutes later I called back LingYue. Landslide? What landslide? Bungalow near my house? On TV news? So that's why the electricity supply was out. I promised to get back to her later.

10:15 a.m.
Zilin and I walked down towards Impian Selatan Condominium and could not believe our eyes when we saw this...


The whole lot of bungalows were damaged beyond repair. One of the houses used to have two Porche parked right at the front. My brother and I would look at them in awe whenever we drove pass. I could only imagine what became of those luxurious cars.

11:20 a.m.
No power supply, and no water supply (only temporary supply from the water storage tank). We have food but without electricity for the refrigerator, it would get stale within approximately 30 hours. We couldn't drive out because the only access road to the outside was blocked. What should we do?

11:35 a.m.
There was a path through Impian Selatan Condominium that could lead us out. It's muddy and slippery and difficult to walk. But at least we'd be out of here. Should we go or should we stay?

1:50 p.m.
The access through Impian Selatan Condominium had been blocked as it was flooded. Another path was opened. To go through it we had to climb a 6-storeys high hill. I was worried about my mom's physical ability. Should we go or should we stay?

2:00 p.m.
We had decided to stay till tomorrow. If there's still no power supply by tomorrow afternoon, there's no way we're staying. We'd be starved (or bored) to death. Since there was nothing to do, we took a nap.

5:00 p.m.
We discovered from a neighbour that they were giving away food supply and candles further uphill. So Zilin and I drove up to get some while my mom stayed put at home. By the time we got down it was already dark. Zilin said that our situation was very dangerous because we were running out of ammo, and that the pedestrians were all zombies lurking in the dark waiting to feast on human flesh. I looked at him one kind and decided that it's time to forbid him to play anymore computer games.

7th December 2008
10:00 a.m.
Still no water supply. Still no power supply. The road through Impian Selatan Condominium had been reopened. Should we go or should we stay?

1:15 p.m.
After a delicious homecook meal, we decided it was time to go. We packed our stuff (just a few clothings and cash) put on our running shoes and were ready to go jungle trekking. On our way we saw what terrible things the landslide had done. The cars were squashed by the roof.
Pity those homelesss people...
The muddy path we had to walk through. This is considered the easiest part.
When we were out, we found ourselves behind the rows of ground zero bungalows. This was considered the danger zone. Though the houses were not damaged, the occupants were evacuated. We saw cracks on the bitumen road.

More cracks...

HUGE cracks!!!

There were authorities standing by.

Almost out of the danger zone. At the other side of the landslide, authorities standing by. At that moment, the rescue team were still working to find more survivors.

Tired and exhausted.

2:45 p.m.
My sister came to pick us up. We'd be staying with her for the time being.