KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia has brushed off claims that it is involved in lottery programmes promising shopping vouchers and cash of up to US$130,000 (RM416,000).

In a statement here, the budget carrier said some customers had received e-mails inviting them to join these programmes, purportedly organised by the airline's Asia-Pacific regional headquarters based in Kota Kinabalu.

“The entity falsely claims to be organising a so-called 2013 AirAsia Exclusive Special Bonus Program with up to US$130,000 to be given away,” the statement said.

“AirAsia denies having such a programme in place. We have not authorised any company to organise such programmes on our behalf.

“We have reported the matter to the police and will be lodging a report with the Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission soon,” it said, adding that the public should refer to AirAsia's official communication channels for enquiries.

The airline had previously spoken out out against a purported lottery programme organised by it offering 1Malaysia shopping vouchers.

In an unrelated development, the Higher Education Ministry has detected fake websites that claim to provide scholarships known as Bantuan Biasiswa Pengajian 1Malaysia (BP1M).

These scholarships are purportedly advertised through http://biasiswa1msia.blogspot.com and http://www.step2rich.net/iklan2u which the ministry says do not exist.

Parents and students are advised to visit the ministry's official website www.mohe.gov.my for scholarship details.

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