Some of us may have been scam victims at some point in our lives. Scams can come in different forms & these scammers will usually find ways to scam as much money as possible from all their possible victims. Some of us may be aware that is a scam however some of us may not even realize it is a scam. Common ones are usually donations for charity, investments, Ponzi schemes & many others.
In the past, I have written posts on How To Spot An Investment Scam, My Experience of Encountering An Investment Scammer & How To Avoid Being Scam. Those are mainly on the topics of prevention from being a victim of scamming. As I mentioned earlier, many of us have fallen into a different scam. It can be in a small amount where we are giving “donations” to a scammed charity fund without realizing it is a scam or we “invest” in an investment where it promises high investment returns. For most victims, when they realized that they got scammed, they usually go into panic mode & are not sure what to do next.
Below are the steps that you can take if you are a victim of a scam:
Step 1: Calm Down
If you have gone into panic mode, you need to calm yourself down. You are in a situation where you are scammed & all you have to do is to calm yourself down first & determine your next step.
Step 2: Determine What To Do Next
This is a crucial step to make. At this point, you may decide to go directly to the authority, or you may go directly to the scammer first. You may want to gather information on how much money you got scammed, details of the scam & the scammer’s details before you report it to the authority.
Step 3: Check On How Can You Get Your Money Back
If you decide to go to the scammers to negotiate with them to get your money back, please ensure that you are recording all the conversations or chats to use as future proof.
Step 4: Report The Scam
Whether the scammer decides to return the money or not, you should probably report the scam so the authority will take action against them. With the recent initiative by the Malaysia Government, they have set up a National Scam Respond Centre (NSRC) to combat financial scams. It is a joint effort between the National Anti-Financial Crime Centre (NFCC), Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP), other financial & telecommunication institutions, various resources, and experts. You have the option of calling the NSRC or calling your bank’s scam hotlines. Since NSRC only operates from 8 am-8 pm daily, you can also contact your bank’s scam hotlines which are 24-hour. Once you have alerted them, you may lodge a police report as the next action.
Step 5: Create Awareness
This step requires a huge effort to take as many victims usually will not share their experience as they are afraid that they will be judged or embarrassed by it. Think about it, if you are able to share your experience with as many people as possible, you are helping them by creating awareness among them. It is to avoid many Malaysians fall into such scams in the future.
Conclusion:
In the past, when those investment scams are exposed, the victim’s first action is to go to the scammer’s office or scammer’s location to demand their money back. It is a very common thing that many victims do but there is a slight chance that they are able to get their money back. If you are a victim of a scam, it is not the end yet whether it is a small or huge amount. Whether you plan to get the money back or not, the most important part that you have to do is to expose those scammers by creating awareness among others. We may not be able to stop scammers from scamming people but by creating awareness, we are helping to educate more people on those potential scams out there.
OSS!
You can also check out my latest YouTube video on Why Do You Need Financial Planning?
