Man who believed scam text about $4 Malaysian toll fees almost loses $267, makes police report
A man who received a scam text from "Malaysian traffic police" claiming that he owed more than RM12.80 (S$4) in toll fees believed it and made payment — only to be notified by his bank about a failed transaction for almost 70 times the amount.
Malaysian national Mr Liao (transliterated), who works in Singapore's F&B industry, told Shin Min Daily News that he had received a text message from the number 15888 at about 2pm on Christmas Day after entering the country. The text claimed that the 29-year-old had outstanding toll fees and instructed him to make payment.
After clicking the payment link, he followed the instructions and entered his details to make payment.
However, about three minutes after completing the payment, Mr Liao received a notification from his bank stating that there had been a failed transaction of $267.74 from his account.
"I believe it was related to the previous message. I was worried that my banking information might be misused, so I went to the local police station to file a report as a precaution," he said.
Although there were no deductions from his account, Mr Liao believes the scammers will continue targeting others. He urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid clicking on payment links from unknown sources.
Singaporean travellers report similar messages
Separately, 37-year-old Singaporean actress Kayly Loh said in an interview that she had received a message about an "unsuccessful toll payment recorded" for her vehicle while travelling in Malaysia.
She proceeded to click on the link, which led to a website that appeared credible. After keying in her details, she noticed that the payment amount had changed from $4 to $2,800 and halted the transaction immediately.
In a post on Facebook page @SGRV FRONT MAN, a user also shared that upon entering Johor Bahru, they received a similar message about outstanding toll fees.
The user clicked the link and entered his personal particulars as instructed, only to discover an "unsuccessful fraudulent transaction" of over $700 from his bank account hours later.
On the Professional PHV Drivers Singapore Facebook group, user Zaireel Mazali, reported receiving a scam message from the same number and advised netizens to ignore the text.
