“It’s A Scam” Beware Of Calls From Unknown Numbers With Music In The Background

A Twitter user claims that the music will put victims into a trance that will make victims do what they are told such as giving up their hard-earned money.

Credit: mentatdgt & Mikhail Nilov/ Pexels

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Recently, there seems to be an increase in scam calls telling people that they owe money to certain organisations.

Sadly, some people have fallen for the scam and lost a lot of their savings. These victims sometimes get no support from their loved ones too because they were deemed stupid to fall for scams.

A Twitter user offered advice to prevent yourself from getting scammed by callers like these.

PSA: if you received a call from an unknown number which begins with “ini notis penting dari Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri” with soft music playing in the background, hang up immediately.

/1
— Amber, but cannot be conclusively established Foo (@Ambering_) March 3, 2022

According to Amber (@Ambering_), you should hang up immediately if you received a call from an unknown number that claims to be from the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) accompanied by soft music playing in the background.

She claimed that the soft music can put call receivers into a trance and they would do as asked by the scammers on the other end of the line.

If that was true, it would explain why so many people unwittingly fell for the scams.

Netizens offered other ways to waste the scammer’s time or throw them off their game. Some of them prefer to drag out the conversation by talking about unimportant things or pretending to be waiting for their food order.

Some just prefer to keep quiet the moment they answer the call and wait until the scammer gets impatient with them before ending the call. Others just ended the call immediately.

I picked up the call and asked which LHDN branch he was from? He hung up immediately.

I find the scam call from “mahkamah” amusing but my favourite is the one from “Pos Laju”.

I asked, “Awat pos laju lani dah laju sampai tekan 1 teruih angkat?”

He hung up immediately…😅😂😂😂
— Samantha Chong 🇲🇾 (@Samantha__chong) March 3, 2022

I wait until it is transferred to someone, and i just listen silently, that guy keep repeating hello? Hello? Hello?. Few minutes then i end the call. Just wanna give some fake hope to him😂
— Zayaaa (@Zayakentangg) March 3, 2022

I always hang up the call the moment i heard that msg. But 1 time im just bored so i wait until the call got through.

Me : hello? Nih mcd kan? Tadi saya order mcchiken set tapi tak sampai2. Perut dah lapar nih woi!

Scammer : mcd? Mcd yer? Mcd kepala bapak kau!

Made my day. 🤣
— Afiq Rahman (@SensitiveLemon) March 3, 2022

Netizens also warned everyone of other forms of scams. A netizen pointed out a parcel scam that required victims to pay in order to receive their items.

Another trick scammers use was to pretend to be your friend and called you frantically that they have changed their phone number. A few days later, the scammer ‘friend’ would call again to ask for money after telling a sob story.

Andddd if you got a message your parcel is out for delivery like this and you need to pay rm99 don’t take it. Bcs i never choose cod to buy things and my mum paid for it bcs i takde dekat rumah. Turns out it is just a no brand watch that i tak order. pic.twitter.com/mzPZ6THGl6
— 잼 (@qilaa____) March 3, 2022

Bware: 1 other trick is rcve n unknown no. He/she act like a fren, n in a harried tone, inform u of new hp no., then keep rminding u 2 delete d old no. (whoever ur actual fren is), n end d call. A few days later, he/she will call again n tell u a sob story n ask 4 financial help.
— ipohcmemalee (@ipohcmemalee) March 4, 2022

How do you know if it’s a scam?

Scammers change their modus operandi often when the people wise up to their shenanigans. To keep informed of the several scams, you can check the list of scams listed out by LHDN on their official website here.

According to Free Malaysia Today, LHDN will not discuss any tax-related matter through phone calls. LHDN will send official letters or emails using the @hasil.gov.my domain.

If you’re still not sure if the letter or email you received is a scam, it’s safer to head over to the office in person.

The bottom line is that it’s just better to ignore calls from unknown numbers and calls that ask for a lot of money.

Meanwhile, here’s a list of other scams that you should be wary of.