When an e-commerce platform is as large and as open as Lazada, then more cases of scammers will appear. The general rule to avoid scam is simple – if the deal seems too good to be true, then it probably is. But sometimes it’s not really that good, but still better than the market. How do you avoid them?
We’ve actually covered scamming methods and cases on Lazada before and now, another similar method of scamming has appeared. Like before, the deal will be posted on Lazada. But then again, that is only an ad. To make the transaction, the scammer will want you to make the deal outside of Lazada.
Facebook user Azli Jah’roni posted this on the POCOPHONE F1 Malaysia Group where a Pocophone F1 is for sale for just RM900! Of course people are interested at the phone. It’s a powerful phone that’s already a cheap phone – but we humans are greedy, aren’t we?
You can check out our review of the Pocophone F1 here, by the way. And the only method you can get it right now is through the official Xiaomi LazMall store in Lazada.
The scam story
So the story is pretty simple and I’ll break it down to point form for you.
- Customer sees an ultra-good deal where the price is too good to be true.
- Customer obviously wants to buy the item for a low price
- Reads “Questions about this product” – has a phone number
- No one will pick up if you called
- Can only message through wasap (WhatsApp)
At this point forward, things start to change a little. Some sellers disallows COD and offers postage only – but allow 50% deposit and pay the remaining to the delivery person. Some disallow COD and disallows deposit as well. Some of them disallows COD entirely.
The one posted on the Pocophone F1 Malaysia Group allows disallows COD but allows 50% deposit, whereas our friend at The Ideal Mobile posted about this scam tactic as well, but that seller disallows COD deposit entirely.
In the case of Facebook user Azli Jah’roni, the seller didn’t want to deliver the item via COD even when the customer is magically at the same area!
Then the big red flag comes when the seller wants the deal to be done outside of Lazada. Sure, you can make your transaction of the RM900 Pocophone F1 through Lazada but I guarantee hat transaction will get canceled. The scammer – I mean seller – just wants some publicity, not good reviews.
I applaud to our friend at The Ideal Mobile as he got the bank account numbers of the scammers – two bank account numbers – and found out their names as well:
Name: Zetty Najihah
MBB Acc. No.: 162107126428
Name: Mohd Badar
MBB Acc. No.: 162012927661
How to identify scammer
It’s pretty simple. Each time, these items will be posted on Lazada with a poorly taken picture as the thumbnail. In the product details, they will write something like “message us” or directly give you their contact number there for you to WhatsApp them.
If you do message them, then they’ll be really stern that you’ll need to deal with them directly via WhatsApp. That’s a no-no.
I wrote a few articles about Lazada scammers before to educate my dear fellow readers to share with the world so that everyone knows how to avoid scammers. I’m sure you don’t want to hear your best friend or your parents got scammed because they saw a 4K UHD TV was for sale for only RM1,000.
I actually found an entire store dedicated for scams. Here’s the link to it if you want to learn to identify the common pattern. Please don’t buy anything from them.
Is Lazada safe for online shopping?
I can tell you one thing – it’s absolutely safe. I shop at Lazada all the time, actually. Remember we posted about LazMall, where some official brand stores are eligible to be “upgraded”? Lazada guarantees you 100% authentic products only – because only the official brand stores can be in LazMall.
Once again – if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is. Be safe while shopping online, my dear fellow readers. Remember to inform your friends and family as well.
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Hi Kok, below are Maybank accounts of WhatsApp scammer on Lazada called ‘Trustedseller099’. Same M.O. Tried to sell an RM700 handphone for RM250. I had that hunch that it might be too good to be true but the photos look like it’s a used unit, it was quite believable. Was told to pay RM150 first for so called deposit and he will ship it. Upon deposit, he asked for the remaining balance which suddenly became RM150 (+RM50 – Insurance), then only can ship. Paid the second RM150 and he actually asked for another RM300 some more for ‘Shipping Tax’. Asked for refund but he said he too late, he shipped the item already. He also can say after that, if pay another RM300 then he will only ship the item. At that point it was pure nonsense. Reported to the PDRM and forwarded these accounts to Maybank. The bank officer submitted the complaint to PIDM for account investigation and blacklist.
Name: Mohamad Khairul
MBB Acc. No.: 162107126428
Name: Muhammad Amirul
MBB Acc. No.: 162012927661
Hi Kok, below are Maybank accounts of WhatsApp scammer on Lazada called ‘Trustedseller099’. Same M.O. Tried to sell an RM700 handphone for RM250. I had that hunch that it might be too good to be true but the photos look like it’s a used unit, it was quite believable. Was told to pay RM150 first for so called deposit and he will ship it. Upon deposit, he asked for the remaining balance which suddenly became RM150 (+RM50 – Insurance), then only can ship. Paid the second RM150 and he actually asked for another RM300 some more for ‘Shipping Tax’. Asked for refund but he said too late, he shipped the item already. He also can say after that, if pay another RM300 then only he will ship the item. Wow! at that point it was pure nonsense. Reported to the PDRM and forwarded these accounts to Maybank. The bank officer submitted my complaint to PIDM for account investigation and blacklist. Please share out anyways.
Name: Mohamad Khairul
MBB Acc. No.: 151593160079
Name: Muhammad Amirul
MBB Acc. No.: 501525057945
Hi Kok
There is this seller Newhubexpress in Lazada. I message them through Lazada. They ask me for contact number. They later WhatsApp me and said item I wanted is in stock and they only accept direct transfer to their company OCBC account. Invoice was also issued. After making the transfer, an hour later they WhatsApp again that item is in custom and they need me to transfer another 200sgd. Immediately I ask for refund or I will make a police report They say they will refund back but the next moment they say items is on its way and tracking number will be provided. I had filed for police report and fund recall from bank. I just hope to alert the public not to fall into the same scam
Hey there Jessie, I don’t think you’ll ever get your money back. Sorry ☹️
On another note, please share this and make sure more people are aware of such issues. It’s heartbreaking to see such things happening.
Really there is no way to get the refund even after we make a report to police?
Not too sure. From what I heard before, you can get a refund AFTER going through a lengthy process with police reports and heading to the bank, etc.
Hi bro Pls share this scammers identification
Som Lai store
Name. : Muhammad Hafizzudin bin Zaidi
Acct number : 151137941798
Bank : Maybank
Phone number :+601131446459
Name : Mohd Syafiie Bin MD Bakir
Acct number : 7067081565
Bank: CIMB
Phone number: +60109731022
Som Lai is using Parcelcourier pls don’t believe them they say that your item can’t be released if you don’t pay the customs fee.So they will instruct you to pay again to release your package
That’s a very typical scam tactic. Thanks for the heads-up!