Penang exco raises alarm on scammer impersonating him online

GEORGE TOWN – Scammers are well known for their cunning and unrelenting behaviour, but Penang exco Yeoh Soon Hin may not have realised how perverse they are until he found someone in cyberspace attempting to impersonate him recently.

Yeoh, who is chairman of the Penang Convention and Exhibition Bureau (PCEB), took to social media and Facebook to express his displeasure.

“It was brought to my attention by some good Samaritans that an unknown individual has been faking my identity as the chairman to PCEB, requesting assistance on purchasing matters,” he said.

“Please be informed that I am not in any way related/affiliated, nor do I have any knowledge of the person(s) managing the email address – [email protected]. 

“If you have received any emails or correspondence from this email address, please do me a kind favour of reporting it and rest assured, it is not from me or my administration.”

He pointed out his official email address is [email protected], and he has no other alternative email address for official dealings.

“Be aware everyone, scammers are on the rise,” said Yeoh, who oversees the state’s tourism, culture, arts and creative economy portfolio. 

It has been learnt that Yeoh was mulling over lodging a police report and it remains to be seen if anyone was duped by his impersonator.

Scam cases in Penang, like in other parts of the country, are on the rise, as many people embrace the digital age but remain vulnerable to online fraud.

Online transactions are more profound now as the Covid-19 lockdowns have triggered more people to rely on technology to conduct their daily affairs, from education to business.

Between January and April last year, a total of 111 scam cases were reported compared to 89 cases recorded during the same period in 2020, northeast district police head Soffian Santong revealed in a report.

He cited that the increase of 22 cases showed that the level of awareness among the public was still lacking in combating white collar crime.

“Many of these scammers are operating from rented flats or premises and it’s important for us to know and understand our neighbourhood. 

“When you sense something amiss near your neighbourhood, don’t hesitate to inform us (police) so that we can proceed to check further,” Soffian was reported as saying. – The Vibes, August 15, 2022