Here’s how this condo owner lost RM22K in a homestay renovation scam.

The buying of a property – be it as a home or as an investment – is universally seen as a milestone for most Malaysians. And in both instances, there’s no denying that lots of blood, sweat, tears and money are involved. But unfortunately for one Mr. Ong, his investment led to him losing RM22K thanks to a scam that we’ve never heard of, until he contacted us.

It all began sometime in July last year – after months of settling assorted paperwork and making the down payment, you know how it is – Mr. Ong finally received the keys to his condo unit in KL. But all of that drudgery was only the appetizer, thought Mr. Ong, because now comes the main dish: finding a way to make the most of his investment.

That was when…

 

Someone offered to turn Mr. Ong’s unit into a homestay

Shortly after getting vacant possession of his condo unit, Mr. Ong started receiving calls from real estate agents and marketers offering to help him with his investment property.

“I don’t know how they got my number, but I started getting calls when I got vacant possession (of the condo unit),” – Mr. Ong, in an interview with CILISOS

Among the callers was a Jay Tan. Jay supposedly owned a company that manages homestays, and here’s what he offered Mr. Ong. He could:

• Renovate and furnish Mr. Ong’s unit
• List the unit on Booking.com as a homestay
• Help Mr. Ong manage everything on that front
• Guarantee a return of RM2,600 every month even if there were no one stayed there

The price? Mr. Ong would have to pony up RM22K++ upfront. The deal sounds too good to be true on the surface, but it’s not uncommon. There are many Airbnb/homestay management companies out there that are totally legit, and Jay’s price of RM22K isn’t unusual.

Jay’s proposal wasn’t the worst idea he’s heard – if he chose the more traditional route of renting the unit out, it might take a while for him to find a tenant, and it was cool that he’d be able to recover his capital within ten months with Jay’s deal.

Before Mr. Ong went all in, though, he asked Jay whether he could visit Jay’s office or showroom to make sure everything was kosher. And apparently, the answer was yes.

After touring Jay’s office and showroom, and satisfied at was he saw, he signed an agreement with Jay, paying him roughly RM22K.

Once the renovation was done, Mr. Ong stayed over at his newly furnished unit. He was informed that some of the furniture have yet to arrive, but other than that, all was well, until…

 

A month later, everything in his unit was gone

A few weeks after that, Mr. Ong had some business in KL. And since he was from another state, he figured he might as well stay at his unit if it was vacant. Save that hotel money, ya know? So, he gave Jay a call, and Jay said there was already someone staying there.

However, when Mr. Ong checked booking.com to make sure the unit was actually booked, it wasn’t even listed on the site. That was red flag number one.

Fast forward a couple of days, and Mr. Ong happened to be passing by his condo. From the outside, he saw that there were no curtains in the window of his unit. Red flag number two. “Better check in on my property,” he thought. He felt a sense of unease bubble in his stomach as he took the lift up and approached his unit’s door.

He rang the doorbell once. No answer. He rang it a couple more times. Nothing. Then, he unlocked the door, and entered.

There was nothing. No tenant, and most of the furniture was gone. The TV was absent from its mounting bracket, as was the fridge, and most of the other unit’s fittings.

Appalled, he called Jay, and demanded an explanation. Jay clarified that some of the other units he was managing had no furniture, thus he borrowed them from Mr. Ong’s unit, but he had no explanation on why the unit wasn’t listed on booking.com and why there was no tenant there.

The red flags turned into a giant red banner worthy of the flagpole at Dataran Merdeka.

And sure enough, at the end of September, he never got his guaranteed monthly RM2,600.

 

He wasn’t the only victim from his condo

Unhappy (obviously) with how Jay conducted his business, Mr. Ong wanted to warn the other owners in the condo’s WhatsApp group, but it was too late. Apparently, close to 20 other owners in the condo also kena the same thing. Missing furniture and no payout from Jay’s scheme.

Some of the owners eventually managed to recover some of their furniture from Jay. Most of them walked away empty handed. None of them received any of the promised monthly returns.

When the owners collectively went to make a report at the Cheras District PDRM Headquarters, the officer on duty advised them to bring the case to the consumer’s tribunal instead. That makes sense, cuz the consumer’s tribunal does have jurisdiction over fraud committed over online transactions. There’s just two tiny problems with that:

1. The condo owners don’t know Jay Tan’s real name; and
2. They don’t know where to find him

It doesn’t seem like the owners can make a claim through the tribunal without those details, and sadly, that’s where Mr. Ong’s story ends… for now.

For those of y’all reading this, here’s the bottom line: scammers are upping their game by the day. Take Mr. Ong’s story as a not-so-gentle reminder to do your research before investing large sums of your hard-earned ringgit into anything. Not saying Mr. Ong didn’t do his due diligence, but if any of y’all wanna do this homestay management thing, perhaps look into whether the company has any previous clients or ask someone you know well for recommendations on top of everything Mr. Ong did.

Our local authorities are usually very much on the ball when it comes to scam cases, so if something like this happens to you, do make a report with the appropriate officials. And if you feel so inclined, contact a media platform (read: us) as well to spread the word to the public. Sekian.