For years I have been telling you all:

• not to click/tap on any links (at emails, SMS, WhatsApp, Telegram and etc) regarding any message relating to money. If you are in doubt, you should call Customer Service by keying in the number behind your card to verify the transaction. Nowadays when you call Customer Service, the first thing you hear is it will tell you to Press X to report fraudulent transaction. Yes fraud and scam are freaking rampant today.
• not to tap/click on any advertisement especially at social media (e.g. Facebook, Instagram and etc) regardless how good the deal looks. Many people with Android smartphones have been conned all their money in their bank account when they fall for fake deals. In Malaysia and Singapore, many people have been conned because they were greedy for durians & pizzas plus being calculative wanting to get cheap maids.
• DO NOT use a Debit Card linked to your bank account! DEACTIVATE transactions related to your MasterCard or Visa Debit Card.
• If you are not eligible for Alliance Virtual Credit Card (where you can create many credit cards for different purposes and set the maximum amount for transactions and the expiry date of the cards), you should use a Debit Card (e.g. TnG eWallet Visa Prepaid Card, Big Pay MasterCard, Enrich Money Visa and etc) where you can transfer into the Prepaid Card(s) amount that you can afford to be conned. Prepaid cards are also excellent for tapping here and there for public transport.
• get a RFID blocking case to keep your cards so that people cannot steal your information.
• set your SMS Default Transaction to RM1. However sad to say Maybank nowadays will not send you any SMS if you have Signed Up for their MAE App. On the other hand, if you do not have Maybank MAE, they will still send you SMS. MAE Notifications are kind of useless as I receive dozens of Notifications a day on my smartphone and what if I do not have Data? It is really bad of Maybank not to send us SMS for our Credit Cards’ transactions if we have MAE because Maybank credit cards are prone to fraud! Practically every year one of my Maybank American Express card will experience a fraud transaction. Worst is my wife who I have given to her AMEX Supp cards where she never reads her Notifications!
• if you are performing Mobile Banking with your Android phone, there is a probability that you may end up installing an apk file (because you never read the message but just tap continue/proceed), you MUST get an Apple iPhone.
• Not only must you get an Apple iPhone for your Mobile Banking, you should have a different number for your Mobile Banking smartphone where no one else knows (except your loved ones) the number so that if you receive any calls on that number you know it is most likely a Scam! Don’t be penny wise pound foolish where you say that having another Sim Card will cost you money because if someone get access to you Mobile Banking and all your money gone, it will cause you to have a BIG headache and lots of sleepless nights. And never create any other accounts with this said Mobile Banking phone (no Facebook, no WhatsApp and etc).

Like I said, above is what I have been telling you guys. Below are some new scams which you should know:

Fake BTS (Base Transceiver Station) or SMS Blaster

Not too long ago, I received an SMS claiming to be from Maxis while I was at Mid Valley. I knew it was a fake because the message mentioned to tap a link because my Maxis’s Reward Points were expiring; BUT Maxis does not have a Reward Points Program!

Then I also received an SMS from Maybank SMS number telling me my Treats Points were expiring but I knew it was a fake. The point here is the message used Maybank SMS number 66628!

My brother in-law then told me that the above are most likely from Fake BTS (Base Transceiver Station) or SMS Blaster. Below content in italic are copied from Google:

Rogue Tower: A Fake BTS is a portable, unauthorized cellular transmitter that criminals carry around in vehicles or bags. The scam uses a device that is mobile and can be easily moved from place to place.

Bypassing Telcos: It forces nearby mobile phones to connect directly to its fake signal instead of your actual service provider’s tower (often dropping phones to unencrypted 2G signals). Because it operates outside legitimate telecom networks, it completely bypasses carrier spam and security filters.

Mass Blasting: A single device can blast out thousands of text messages per day to every phone within range, without needing your phone number beforehand.

How to Protect Yourself

Do Not Click Links: Never tap on links in SMS messages sent out of nowhere, even if they look like they come from a familiar brand, bank, or government service.

Disable 2G (Android): If your phone runs Android 12 or newer, go to your settings and turn off 2G support to stop rogue towers from forcing your phone onto unencrypted networks. ONCE AGAIN, DISABLE 2G at your Android smartphone.

Use iOS Lockdown Mode: If you use an iPhone in high-risk or targeted environments, you can enable Lockdown Mode in your privacy and security settings.

Voice Call Scam

Recently I personally heard a freaking cool voice call while I was in a Grab! The driver had his phone on speaker and I could hear – “you have transacted RM2K+ with your Maybank Account, if you have performed the transactions press 1, if you did not perform the transaction press 2 to speak to our representative”. The driver just hang up the call. So I asked the driver what was that and he answered – SCAM.

Above Scam is like BNM or the police or Pos Laju or tax office scams where scammer will call you and say this and that. Many people have been scammed over the years by this kind of method because of many reasons which I won’t mention except that they were too lazy to educate themselves and read GenX GenY GenZ articles, hahaha.

Voice Recording Scam

Nowadays it is also very common to get a call but the other side will be silent. What they are doing is recording your voice and later use AI for a scam.

What you should do?

• if you can, never answer any call from any number you are not familiar, especially from a mobile phone number. I have received calls from many foreign countries too which I will just ignore.
• never answer a call by saying anything (e.g. Hello or whatever) but if you must, at most use a tone and say something your would never say to your family member (e.g Yoh in an unusual tone like extremely high pitch).
• Nowadays it is very common for scammers to record your voice and use AI to create false situation. I have heard many people telling me they received calls from friend or family members asking for money and worst of all one of their children have been kidnapped! So as another verification method, you must have a SECRET CODE (e.g. Freaking Suffering) and/or SECRET MESSAGE/QUESTION (just like the Security Question when signing up for Mobile Banking).

INVESTMENT SCAM

If you are greedy for easy money you will be scammed. If you are lazy to educate yourself you will be scammed.

I am not a qualified Financial Advisor/Consultant. For your own investment, you are to seek professional advise and never follow/listen to me.

Below are my personal observations/experience AND NOT for you to follow as I am not putting a gun at your head (we all have choices and the choices we decided will determine the outcome which means whatever we end up doing is at our own free will and when shit happens we have only ourselves to be blamed):

• Perform Voluntary EPF Deposit up to RM100K per year. EPF pays daily interest which will be compounded and no one else besides you and your nominees will have access to it. Remember to update your Nominees and that includes removing your ex-spouse or current partner that has pissed you off, hahaha. The thing about EPF is we will only know how much dividend we are getting after they announced it but minimum under the law is 2.5%
• Place FDs which cannot be uplifted online. I think Alliance Bank and maybe Public Bank requires your ID and thumb print in person if the FD is not places online. Alternatively, you can also deposit into any bank BUT do not sign up for Online or Mobile Banking which means you need to physically go to the bank. With FD, we know from the start how much interest we will get upon maturity unlike EPF which we only know in the first quarter of the year.
• if you are into the stock market, perform your transaction with a real person (i.e. a remisier attached to a financial institution approved by Security Commission) or for small amount (less than RM10K or amount you can lose and sleep soundly) there are many Apps but you must be aware if you have no internet your are doomed or if the company closed down you will lose everything. Just like any investment, educate yourself and never listen/believe anyone benefiting from your greed where they will tell you that they have a tip to make you richer. Seriously, if you want to invest in stocks, you must educate yourself on Technical Analysis and learn about a company fundamentals.
• Unit Trust – this is for lazy people who do not educate themselves and have yet to lose money when the market crashed. Never ever borrow money to play Unit Trust. Only use money that you can afford to lose to play Unit Trust.
• Bonds – if you are a EPF member, you already into bonds (which is a DEBT, would you lend money to a person who is in debt?). Google – “EPF holdings in Malaysia Debt” and you will be shocked! Luckily the government only allows RM100K per year in Voluntary Contribution else the greedy people will put all their money into EPF and when there is a Bond Crisis then only they understand why they were taught early in life never put all their eggs in one basket.
• Bank Structural Investment Products – why would anyone pay fees to someone else for losing their money beats me,
• Wealth Preservation – the most important is giving your children a good education with the right degree from a top university so that hey will earn more money than you and thus never needing you to feed them for life and you having financial freedom. Other method of protection is allocating your money into hard assets such as a desired freehold landed property where there is always demand and/or precious metal where effective 1st November 2026 the government of Malaysia will no longer imposed 10% import tax on gold bullion up to 50g if not mistaken. Regarding physical metals I have produced articles on Where and How To Buy Silver and Gold in Malaysia – search for them.
• Crypto – well it is risky, you may earn more money or lose everything. The other day I read a person lost RM12M where his Bitcoin was transferred out from his wallet without his knowledge!!!
• Never ever borrow money for any investmet and never put all your eggs in one basket.

Like I said, I am not a certified Financial Advisor, therefore I am not telling you where you should invest/park your money but above are just for education based on my observations.

Love Scam

I am sure you would have saw or read about Butchering The Pig, if you have not you should watch some youtube videos to learn how they operate.

What I want to tell you is that nowadays scammers use AI where you can perform video call thinking you are communicating with a real person!!! Only last month I was watching documentary on how a man in Australia was conned by AI because he believed he was communicating with his real “gf” over video calls BUT in actual fact the video was AI generated.

I will just tell you this, if your lover ask you for money and you are willing to give, ask that person to meet you up in person. If your lover give you even ONE excuse why he/she cannot meet you in person, 99% it is a scam.

And today divorce is a normal thing for young people. I have produced an article to assist you young people (if you are a man or woman) what you should consider before getting married. For here, I will just say that today many women are earning more money that men because more women go to universities! For those of you females earning more than your future husband, ask yourself if you are willing to be a water fish to your husband’s family. And the most important question for a woman who wants children, you better ask your future husband how he is planning to pay for your children education in a top 100 university and if he has no plan then you better think twice. For man, if your future wife is high maintenance (into luxury stuff which she expects you to buy for her), you better run fast fast away, hahahaha. If you decide to marry a person who treats you like a water fish, later on in life you will say you have been scammed, hahahaha.

Be Prepare For Tomorrow

I have produced couple articles that you are to be prepared for a shit happens situation and many people have thanked for me for the articles where there were less stress during the covid-era.

Always have cash for 6 months survival.

Previously in one of my articles I have also mentioned you MUST have cash in hand (at home) plus some gold (best many 1g or 0.5g gold bars) just in case the internet is down or the banks are closed for whatever reason or when we are attacked by Aliens or when Godzilla appears. AND in the event AI is fighting humanity where all your digital funds have been confiscated (internet controlled by AI) and your properties useless, this is where maybe cash is useless but gold may be helpful but a friend told me the best is stock up on cigarettes!!!