No room to let: Some of the victims of the rental scams claim they paid between RM700 and RM2,000 to property ‘agents’.
PETALING JAYA: Many young people aspire to relocate to bustling cities, with securing a cosy residence being their foremost concern.
A 23-year-old man, having moved to Kuala Lumpur for work from Sarawak, received an unfortunate surprise upon discovering that the room he intended to rent at a condominium in the capital city was nonexistent.
Heshlee, as he wished to be known, transferred more than RM1,500 to a purported house property “agent,” unaware that he had fallen victim to a scam.
He took to social media to express his frustration over the matter, while also admitting that he made a mistake by not conducting due diligence before making the transaction.
“I dealt with the individual virtually, and I never met the person because I was in Kuching due to work. I did not view the unit, which I admit was a mistake on my part.
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“I trusted the person because the alleged documentation prepared by the agent looked believable, complete with an ‘official email address’,” he said.
While recounting his story to The Star, Heshlee said he began to have doubts when he was unable to contact the agent on the day he was scheduled to move in earlier this month.
He said he waited at the condominium, near Kerinchi, for about three hours before deciding to find a short-term rental through Airbnb and accepted the fact that he had lost his money.
“By nightfall, I realized I had fallen victim to a scam. I honestly thought the agent was in a road accident or had an emergency, making him uncontactable,” he said.
When sharing his personal anecdote on social media, he learnt that he was not the only victim of the scam, which targeted those looking for a room in the condominium.
He claimed that he was contacted by a few people who told him that they had been scammed using the same method.
Heshlee shared a message from another victim, who reported being scammed as well and suspected that it was the same individual operating under various identities.
After receiving some advice, Heshlee proceeded to file a police report and informed his bank about the transaction he made.
However, he has yet to receive any updates. Heshlee, however, remains hopeful that the scammer will be caught.
“I don’t want anyone else, especially young people and students from distant hometowns, to fall for this scammer’s deception.
“Some, I was told, even cried at the management office due to similar cases. I hope justice will prevail,” he added.
The Star conducted checks on a Facebook group and discovered several others who shared similar experiences.
Some users paid between RM700 and RM2,000 only to be left in the dark by the “agents” after payments were made.
The management of the condominium in question, when contacted, confirmed that it had received enquiries from several people asking about the “agents”.
“We did receive complaints from some of the scam victims. But we urge them to report it to the police immediately,” said a man, who only wanted to speak on condition of anonymity.
The man, who manages the joint-management body of the condominium, said that they have tried to identify the purported “agents” and “landlords” by name but to no avail.
“We are not able to identify who they are. We can only advise the victims to report the incident to the authorities,” said the man.
He said that the management is always ready to cooperate with the police to weed out these scammers.
“This is not good for our image as well, and we look forward to working with the police on this issue,” he added.
He also urged the public to conduct due diligence before making any payments or signing any agreements with any party, particularly in property rental matters.
“Please check thoroughly before proceeding with any payment, and check with the property owner’s management for advice,” he added.
