Matrade warns businesses of scammers posing as agency officers to solicit upfront payments

The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) has issued a warning about fraudulent activities targeting businesses through impersonation of its personnel via email and WhatsApp.

Scammers, posing as Matrade officials, solicit sensitive information and money from vendors under false procurement pretenses.

Matrade emphasizes the importance of verifying all communications, ensuring they originate from its official email addresses, and adhering to authorized procurement channels.

The agency has lodged police reports and is collaborating with CyberSecurity Malaysia for further digital investigations, encouraging victims to swiftly report fraudulent transactions to authorities.

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 — The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) has alerted the business community and the public to fraudulent activities by individuals impersonating its personnel via email and WhatsApp.

Matrade said the perpetrators targeted vendors under the pretext of procuring urgent services for overseas trade delegations, booth translation services for international exhibitions, and corporate recreational events.

It said that under this guise, businesses were asked to provide sensitive documents, including company profiles, Companies Commission of Malaysia registration certificates, bank statements and Ministry of Finance certificates, which were subsequently used to fabricate fraudulent letters of award and government purchase orders.

“Matrade has received alarming reports that several companies have fallen victim to this syndicate and suffered financial losses by making upfront payments to third-party suppliers or designated ‘sub-orders’,” it said in a statement today.

Under this deceptive arrangement, scammers instruct awarded vendors to immediately purchase merchandise and gift supplies from an appointed sub-vendor to fulfil contract specifications before government disbursement, the agency said.

“These third-party entities are fraudulent shell accounts operated directly by the syndicate,” it said.

Matrade said it viewed the breach seriously and had lodged formal police reports, as well as filed complaints with CyberSecurity Malaysia and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission for digital forensic investigations and enforcement action.

To protect themselves, it advised businesses to verify all procurement requests and ensure communications originated from Matrade’s official corporate email addresses ending with “@matrade.gov.my”.

The agency said that its officers did not conduct procurement negotiations through commercial email providers such as Gmail and Yahoo or personal messaging platforms.

It also reminded businesses that all procurement exercises complied with the Malaysian Treasury Circulars (Pekeliling Perbendaharaan) and were conducted through formal, authorised government procurement channels.

“Matrade never requires vendors to deposit advances or settle external invoices with third-party sub-contractors,” it said.

It advised businesses not to disclose confidential financial or operational information without independent verification.

It urged companies that had transferred funds to fraudulent parties to contact the National Scam Response Centre at 997 immediately to help trace and freeze illicit banking transactions.

They should also lodge a police report at the nearest police station and provide transaction records, forged documents and chat transcripts to assist investigations, it said.

Matrade said it takes any form of fraud involving the agency’s name seriously and will take necessary action to protect the interests of exporters and the public.

For inquiries or to verify the authenticity of procurement requests claiming to originate from Matrade, businesses may contact the agency at 03-6207 7077 or email [email protected] . — Bernama

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马来西亚对外贸易发展局（MATRADE）发出警告，称有人通过电子邮件和WhatsApp冒充其员工进行诈骗活动，目标是企业。

诈骗分子冒充马来西亚对外贸易发展局（Matrade）官员，以虚假采购为借口，向供应商索取敏感信息和钱财。

马来西亚对外贸易发展局强调核实所有通信的重要性，确保通信来自其官方电子邮件地址，并遵守授权的采购渠道。

该机构已向警方报案，并正与马来西亚网络安全局合作进行进一步的数字调查，鼓励受害者迅速向当局举报欺诈交易。

吉隆坡，11月5日讯——马来西亚对外贸易发展局（MATRADE）提醒商界和公众，有人冒充其工作人员通过电子邮件和WhatsApp进行诈骗活动。

马来西亚对外贸易发展局表示，犯罪分子以采购海外贸易代表团的紧急服务、国际展览会的展位翻译服务以及公司娱乐活动为借口，对供应商进行诈骗。

报告称，在这种幌子下，企业被要求提供敏感文件，包括公司简介、马来西亚公司委员会注册证书、银行对账单和财政部证书，这些文件随后被用来伪造欺诈性的授标函和政府采购订单。

“马来西亚对外贸易发展局（Matrade）今天在一份声明中表示，‘我们收到令人震惊的报告，称多家公司已成为该犯罪集团的受害者，并通过向第三方供应商或指定“分包商”预付款而遭受经济损失。’

该机构表示，在这种欺骗性安排下，诈骗分子指示中标供应商立即从指定的二级供应商处购买商品和礼品用品，以便在政府拨款之前满足合同规格。

“这些第三方实体是犯罪集团直接运营的欺诈性空壳账户，”声明中写道。

马来西亚对外贸易发展局表示，他们非常重视此次数据泄露事件，并已向警方正式报案，同时向马来西亚网络安全局和马来西亚通信与多媒体委员会提出投诉，要求进行数字取证调查和执法行动。

为了保护自身利益，马来西亚对外贸易发展局建议企业核实所有采购申请，并确保所有通信均来自以“@matrade.gov.my”结尾的官方企业电子邮件地址。

该机构表示，其工作人员不会通过 Gmail 和 Yahoo 等商业电子邮件提供商或个人即时通讯平台进行采购谈判。

它还提醒企业，所有采购活动均符合马来西亚财政部通告（Pekeliling Perbendaharaan），并通过正式的、经授权的政府采购渠道进行。

“马来西亚对外贸易发展局（Matrade）从不要求供应商预付货款或与第三方分包商结算外部发票，”该机构表示。

它建议企业不要在未经独立核实的情况下披露机密的财务或运营信息。

它敦促已将资金转移给欺诈方的公司立即拨打 997 联系国家诈骗应对中心，以帮助追踪和冻结非法银行交易。

声明还指出，他们应该到最近的警察局报案，并提供交易记录、伪造文件和聊天记录以协助调查。

马来西亚对外贸易发展局表示，将严肃对待任何涉及该机构名称的欺诈行为，并将采取必要措施保护出口商和公众的利益。

如有任何疑问或需核实声称来自马来西亚对外贸易发展局（MATRADE）的采购申请的真实性，企业可致电03-6207 7077或发送电子邮件至[email protected]联系该机构。——马新社

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