This article first appeared on Vulcan Post Malaysia.
A syndicate consisting of a fake ‘Datuk Seri’ and ‘Datuk’ posing as a used car company named AX Motor has allegedly cheated 126 people into selling their luxury cars worth RM10 million in Jalan Pahang, through online selling site Mudah.
The process starts with the syndicate approaching a car owner, introducing themselves as bosses of a registered company called AX Motor that deals with the selling and buying of used cars. The syndicate then contacts the car owner — who has advertised their vehicles on Mudah — and offers to purchase the car at a price slightly higher than its market value.
According to Free Malaysia Today, three of the suspects have since been arrested. Law Hong Soon, the deputy police chief of Kuala Lumpur, mentioned that the suspects are between 20 and 39 years old.
He was quoted by FMT as saying “the victims, who advertised their cars for sale on mudah.com, were contacted by an individual from AX Motor offering high prices for their vehicles.” The police have recovered 27 cars and are tracking down more.
He continued, “Besides offering higher prices, they (the syndicate) would offer to pay the outstanding hire purchase instalments to the banks and assist the sellers to change the vehicle ownership with the Road Transport Department.”
Victims only found out that they they had been cheated after they received phone calls from banks or finance companies asking them to pay the outstanding monthly instalments. They also received traffic summonses under their names that were dated after their cars had been sold to the syndicate.
The syndicate’s titles ‘Datuk Seri’ and ‘Datuk’ were faked, and according to investigations, the car company AX Motor was not registered to sell second-hand cars, but to sell car accessories. Police have urged people who have bought cars from, or sold cars to, AX Motor to come forward to assist with the investigations.
