PORT KLANG, MALAYSIA A syndicate has hit on a new way of cheating people, this time by using Internet chat rooms.

Syndicate members would enter these chat rooms and attempt to gain the confidence of intended victims.

Once this is done, they will tell their victims that a gift will be sent to them. Several days later, they will tell their victims that their gifts were stuck with Customs as the duties had not been paid.

Customs Department director-general Datuk Ibrahim Jaapar said the victims were then told to deposit the money online into a bank account so that the gifts could be collected without any hassle.

Victims only realised they had been cheated when they came to know there were no such gifts after contacting the department. Ibrahim said the syndicate was believed to have been active for a month now.
He said a second syndicate had also been detected. This one claimed it was carrying out auctions for the department. Ibrahim urged those who have been cheated to lodge police reports.