KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 — The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has urged the public to be aware of any letter using its official letterheads or using minister Lim Guan Eng’s name as it could be a scam.
In a statement today, the ministry said there could be scammers using Lim and MoF’s email addresses, and urged the public to check with the ministry first if they received such a mail.
The statement was necessitated after a police report was made by a Filipino claiming to have been scammed by people using the ministry and Lim’s email addresses and letters.
“It has come to our attention that a Filipino individual made a police report at Dang Wangi station alleging to have been defrauded with false documentation,” the statement read.
“The individual claimed to have received emails from the minister along with a letter dated March 4 with his signature. The individual in question emailed us to get verification of said email and the veracity its contents and we deny ever having sent it.”
The letter stated that a diplomat for the United Nations called “Bleck Dildrop” was given the authorisation by MoF to send a package to the Filipino at his Philippines residence after a payment of US$30,520 (RM124,754) was made to the diplomat.
The letter contained Lim’s signature in his capacity as “Government Secretariat Executive Council” and Minister of Finance.
The incident along with the letter came to the attention of MoF after the Filipino emailed the ministry and Lim to check if the letter was legitimate.
“We have never come out with a letter or email asking for US$30,520 as it says in the letter,” the ministry said in the statement.
“It is fake and is circulating out there with the intent to defraud. The act of cheating and falsifying documents is an offence under the Penal Code section 417, 419, 426, 464, 465, 468 and 476.
“We urge the public to use our official channels for any information regarding the ministry as stated on our website at http://www.treasury.gov.my/.”
