Imposters cheating housebuyers

Imposters cheating housebuyers
06/04/2005 The Star

KUCHING: Potential housebuyers, beware of cheats and do not be sweet-talked into paying a fee to “middlemen” to get their help in obtaining homes built by the Sarawak Housing Development Corporation.

Corporation chief executive officer Wan Mohd Yusop Wan Moss said about 20 cases of fraud in connection with applications for its houses had been reported to the police since last year.

“In most of the cases, the imposters posed as the corporation's officers, claiming that they could help the applicants get the desired houses – for a fee,” he said.

In other cases, he added, the applicants were cheated by their relatives or friends, acting as intermediaries.

“These intermediaries claimed that they had friends in the corporation who could get fast approvals for houses, especially in housing schemes where demand was high,” he said in a press statement yesterday.

Wan Mohd Yusop said the victims paid deposits or booking fees to the middlemen, who issued them fake receipts. These middlemen used false identities, making it difficult to trace them.

He advised potential housebuyers to watch out for these con men as the corporation had neither appointed any individual to act as its marketing agent nor authorised anyone to collect booking fees or deposits on its behalf.

“There are a lot of irresponsible people out there who prey on those in need of housing,” he added.

Potential housebuyers should go to the corporation’s headquarters in Jalan Sukma here or call 082-444381 or contact its offices in Sibu (084-236227) and Miri (085-656134) for details.