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Assistant minister warns of impersonator sending out WhatsApp messages

Ting shows a copy of his police report.

MIRI (June 19): Assistant Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Sebastian Ting is urging the public to disregard any WhatsApp messages sent by a suspected scammer impersonating as him.

The Piasau assemblyman told a press conference here yesterday that he came to know of the matter when a friend informed him about receiving a message from an unknown number, with the sender introducing him/herself as ‘Seb Ting’.

“The impersonator told my friend he had lost his mobile phone and that after recovering the phone, changed to new mobile phone number.

“My friend quickly checked with me after their conversation became rather suspicious,” he said, without elaborating further.

Ting said following this, he immediately lodged a police report.

“I hope the scammer, whether an individual or group, will stop this because impersonating someone is a very serious offence,” he added.

He called on the public to always be careful if they are contacted by unknown numbers claiming to be someone they know, to avoid being scammed.

“My mobile phone number still remains the same, therefore if any unknown number identifies themselves as me, it is definitely an impersonator,” he said.