Just as the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan announced that parties who are affected by the power outage last week would get a rebate, now scammers have found their way to manipulate this information for their own advantage.
Following the announcement, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) issued a warning about a new scam that claims to offer compensation to affected blackout users via Touch ‘n Go eWallet. The company warned users not to click on the link in the SMS, which uses the shortcode (15454).
Based on the post on the TNB Careline Facebook page, the message stated that Malaysians who are affected by the power outage will be entitled to RM100 compensation via the Touch ‘n Go eWallet. In order to “claim” the money, users must click on a link that leads to a fake website.
This is not the first time scammers have used Touch ‘n Go eWallet as the platform to convince users that the ‘payment’ offered is legit. Recently, it is reported that there is a phishing scam that also involves Touch ‘n Go eWallet and MySejahtera, stating that users are eligible to claim up to RM800 for COVID-19 financial aid.
It is easier for us to fall into these tricks as scammers often use sender ID that looks almost legit such as ‘15454’ or ‘GOV’ in the SMS we received. Therefore, we must always be careful not to click on suspicious links or downloading apps that are not authorized.
