Scratch Card Scams Reported In Malaysia!
There’s no doubt about it there has been far more news in recent years about some kind of scratch card scams in the UK but it has been reported that Malaysia also seem to have this problem! From 2011 – it appears that there has been a total of 1,540 scratch and win scams reported to the Claims Tribunal which is definitely a large amount!
Datuk Hasan Malek is the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister made a written response to Teresa Kok clarifying there has been 456 claims in 2011, 598 in 2012 and a total of 486 dating to August in 2013. Judging by those figures there has been a noticeable increase and remember this is only with reported claims! Hasan Malek made it quite clear that the Ministry is doing everything they can to monitor this and are conducting random checks to try and limit this issue. He also commented that he has ensured that there has been legislative action to try and resolve this issue:
“An amendment to the Trade Description Act 2011, which was enforced since November 2011, states the exact penalty under Section 20, in relation to fake or confusing statements on contests and games, including scratch and win”
This change will allow the Ministry to take more effective action should these scams come up. This would include people who mislead consumers to purchase scratch cards under false pretences of certain prizes or gifts. It also includes people who input unreasonable terms and conditions with their scratch card offerings making it pretty much impossible for people to claim prizes. Another important way to catch these people is to ensure that the public report anything that they see to the authorities so that action can be taken against them. Of course if nobody knows about it – there is nothing that can be done.
As this is a recurring problem in most countries where gambling has been legalised it’s good to see that there are people looking to stamp out this crime and make a change. It looks as if Hasan Malek has a strategic plan in place and is already implementing it – let’s hope the reports for next year go down dramatically. Be careful folks – there could always be some kind of scam afoot!
