THE public has been advised to exercise caution when buying durians online, especially ahead of the durian season in Penang, as cases of fraud involving such purchases have been reported.

Timur Laut district police, in a statement on Facebook, said they have detected an increase in scam cases involving online durian purchases in the district, believed to have been masterminded by syndicates.

“Their modus operandi is to advertise cheap durian sales on social media, including Facebook and Instagram,” read the statement today.

“Those attracted by the advertisement will deal with members of the syndicate through Whatsapp based on the telephone number given.

“The victim is then instructed to click on the link given to download the ‘D4 Durian’ application to make a payment.” 

According to the statement, a page akin to the FPX transaction page would appear when the victim clicked on the given link and as soon as the victim entered the username and password, the payment system would be disrupted.

It said the victim would receive a message from the bank that a sum of money, which was higher than the amount of purchase, had been transferred from the victim’s account to a third-party account.

“The public is advised against downloading any application whose authenticity is suspect and not to disclose their usernames, passwords or any banking information to a third party,” it said.

Meanwhile, in a separate case on May 3, Barat Daya district police chief Kamarul Rizal Jenal said police had detained a man for impersonating a policeman and extorting a couple at the Penang International Airport, Bayan Lepas aircraft landing viewing site.

He said the 26-year-old man was detained in Jalan Kampung Perlis, Bayan Lepas at 10am today.

Police also seized a motorcycle that was used in the incident. – Bernama, May 6, 2022.