Yesterday was a horrifying experience for a friend of mine. The story goes like this:

She was walking along Jln Bukit Bintang when she bumped into a group of young guys in their early 20's. They were distributing look-like flyers thingy with "Mega Sales" written on it, to everyone passing by. It was quite interesting and my friend stopped for a while and tried her luck. It was quite similar to scratch-and-win contest. And so, when my friend opened that flyer, there was the gifts that she won. 3 products altogether... they range from foot massager, energy water system, sewing machine, vacuum cleaner to hi-fi theatre etc. While other passer-by only saw a word -thank you- in it.

And so, my friend thought that she was a lucky one. At the same time, the guy told her that she can collect the 3 prizes when she follow them back to the office where they stock the products. They kept persuading her and saying that they are registered company and not cheating at all. Adding on, the guy also mentioned that out of the 3 prizes, there remained the largest, fabulous prizes awaiting her. On the right side, there is a greyish round circle, and have to go back to the office to scan and see what is the prize. Well, adding on that it could be prizes that range from Toyota Altis, Perodua Viva, holiday package etc. Seeing that it might be a good opportunity to win one of this, my friend hesitated a while and finally, after being touched by their sincerity, she finally agreed.

Because at the same time, she needed to collect the prizes she have won. On the way to the place, that guy kept saying that he wished I could win a car as he can receive commission up to RM1000. Upon reaching, she was brought to an office to meet the manager of the company. The company name is Starr Healthcare (M) Sdn Bhd, located in Kuchai Lama. She smelled something was going on wrongly but that manager even showed her few newspaper articles, stating that lots of people have won from this contest. She read through the news and saw the photos. Everything seemed so real. The manager even said that if she really wins a car or laptop etc, I can immediately collect the product that day itself.

At this moment, they came up with a HOWEVER.. it would required my friend to pay a sum of RM5600 as a government tax for the 3 products she have won and company advertisement fees. After explanation and persuasion, my friend finally agreed to it. She went to ATM in a nearby bank and withdrew an amount of RM5*** before heading back to the office. At this time, they took out a form and jotted down all the serial numbers of the bank notes. As the amount hasn't reach RM5600, the manager volunteered to fork out RM600 for my friend. Seeing that, my friend never suspected him at all.

They explain a lot on the large prizes that she can have the chance to win. Saying that the holiday package to Bali worth RM7000 and it can be converted to cash if my friend does not want to go Bali. For this, my friend can earn Rm1400 after paying Rm5600. Also, if my friend won the car, they will bring her to police station immediately claiming that the car's owner is my friend as written on the document. They said if her current bank account has more than Rm3000, she can receive special benefits such as do not need to pay road tax and car insurance up to 3 years' long.

After being psycho and everything.. for which she thought it was real, they started scanning the round circle on the card. The results showed that it appeared as Number 13. According to the list of prizes, Number 1 is Toyota Altis and Number 2 is Proton Persona followed by Perodua Viva etc. Well, number 13 is a Jade Mattress, they claimed that it a Made in Japan product with good quality and the selling price in the market now is Rm8000 etc. My friend do not desire for it and tried to tell the guy that she doesn't want it. The guy said that he can help to find a friend from Singapore to sell the mattress. But to contact the friend, it has to be at night. And so, my lady friend went back with 4 items altogether. They were helpful to help her carry all these.

Upon reaching home, the more she thinks, the more she feel something was wrong. After searching the Internet, my friend finally broke down. She was cheated. All of this is a scam. The so-called Scratch-and-Win contest that was FAKE.

This is a true story and I have tried to search the net for more info. Lots of people are getting cheated and we must spread it out asap to avoid them getting deceived of their hard-earned money. Some of the links for which you can read as reference:

i) http://my.88db.com/my/Services/Post_Detail.page/Household/Buy_Sell/?PostID=68718

ii) http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1002003/+60

Friends, be alert and quickly avoid them approaching you. The happening places are such as areas nearby Times Square, Jln Bukit Bintang, Sg.Wang..