Latest scam is an SMS list of “JPJ samans”. But then JPJ officers got the SMS too :D

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It’s almost Chinese New Year and we just wanna travel safe on the road, right? So just last week, this writer received a WhatsApp message from one of the many WhatsApp groups she’s in about a Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan Malaysia (JPJ)’s new saman rate that will begin in February. The message with the title, ‘Sebelum Duit Anda Melayang (Before Your Money Flies Away)’ looks like this:

The message which came with a link to JPJ’s Facebook page seemed legit at first… until you actually click the link which directs you to JPJ’s official Facebook page. This writer felt a bit uneasy after reading the message so she decided to make a quick check on JPJ’s Facebook page to find out more about this new rates. As it turns out…

Your money won’t be ‘flying away’ this CNY cos JPJ’s new saman rate isn’t true!

When this writer searched JPJ’s Facebook page to verify the message she received, she stumbled upon JPJ’s post which stated that a viral WhatsApp message about a new saman rate is fake!

“Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan (JPJ) refers to the message entitled ‘Sebelum Duit Anda Melayang’ that went viral on WhatsApp. JPJ wishes to emphasise that the message is NOT TRUE and NOT SENT by JPJ and would advice everyone to not fall for any messages forwarded through WhatsApp from sources that are not credible.” – JPJ’s Facebook Post.

On the post, some people were skeptical about the validity of the message while some questioned JPJ if the summon rates were actually accurate. We searched for the current summon rates and compared it with the ones listed in the message.

If ugaiz didn’t receive the message, there were actually 10 offences listed in it such as obstructing other drivers from overtaking you, not wearing seat belt and carrying weapon-like objects like metal bar and knife in the car. Each offences were accompanied by its own summon rates.

However, we found out that some of the summon rates were pretty accurate while some were slightly accurate. For instance, the message stated that the summon rates for blocking other cars from overtaking you is RM300 and that is true.

In the message, if your car has missing side mirror, chances are you might be summoned RM100. But we actually find out that you can be fined a minimum of RM100 up to RM250, depending on how long you commit the offence.

And some were… really off la. For example, it was stated in the message that the summon rate for installing tinted glass is RM500 or 2 months jail term. But, at the time of writing, it was reported that the maximum compound for that offence is RM300… and no mention of jail term.

We talked to JPJ’s Ketua Pengarah, Dato Shaharuddin who told us that most of the JPJ fines are usually RM300 (on average la). If you wanna compare the real summon rates to the ones sent via WhatsApp or if you simply wanna make a quick check on the summon rates, you can do so here.

Aside from the amount of fine, we also noticed that…

JPJ might’ve been aware of this message for quite some time

Unlike the fake video about a boy whose brain was allegedly damaged because of phone usage that we clarified, JPJ has a upper hand to verify that this message is fake to the mass. JPJ actually clarified that the message is fake a day before this writer received that message on WhatsApp! In fact, the Malaysian Communications Multimedia Commission (MCMC) clarified the message on sebenarnya.my!

Eh, but how come the fake video of the boy that we clarified wasn’t verified on MCMC’s website? We contacted MCMC for further clarification on this. But after several attempts to reach them, we have yet to receive their reply. 🙁 We actually managed to get in touch with them and MCMC told us that the website is specifically set up to verify news based on the official clarification made by the authorities or agencies involved.

However, similarly to the case of the boy in the video, there was no mention of any culprit. We wondered how JPJ knew this message was spreading around and Dato Shaharuddin told us that aside from normal, everyday Malaysians, JPJ officers received the message too!

“I received the message too. That’s how we get to know about the WhatsApp message.” – Dato Shaharuddin told CILISOS.

After finding out that the fake message was widely shared on WhatsApp since mid January, Dato Shaharuddin told us that JPJ filed a complain to the MCMC besides clarifying on its Facebook page on what had really happened. However, he told us that they didn’t actually find the person who did this. MCMC also added that they can only find the culprit based on the complaint and report made by the complainant and the public.

“Since this WhatsApp message didn’t cause havoc, there’s no need to specifically find who started it. But we already made a report with the MCMC.” – Dato Shaharuddin told us.

He also added these are the steps JPJ would normally take when it faces with fake news like this. JPJ had also kena fake news like this sometime in 2016. There was an allegation stating that JPJ had increased the amount of compound to RM2000 for those who uses tinted windows on their cars beyond the legal limit. JPJ had denied this and clarified that the compound was only a maximum of RM300.

Having said that, isn’t there any way to curb this problem??

WhatsApp did its part to curb fake news and you can do yours too

If ugaiz have updated your WhatsApp and found out that you can no longer forward a message to more than 5 people, don’t worry. Nothing is wrong with WhatsApp cause the app has recently announced the limit to forward a message to curb fake news.

And, sometime ago, WhatsApp admins could be prosecuted if they’re found to have sent or allowed their members to share unverified news in their WhatsApp group. We wrote something about that and you can read it here.

This might be a good step tho since it was reported that 84% of Malaysians receive fake or unverified news from WhatsApp. Yea, yea we can see how some of y’all would leave a comment stating that people are sharing these messages out of good will. It’s true tho. Normally those who share this kind of messages are only concerned about other people. But maybe it’s worth your time to check the validity of the message before sharing it to others.

“The public is advised to be careful when sharing unverified message. In addition, we encourage the public to play their role to remind and reprimand each other not to share fake news.” – MCMC told CILISOS.

Although the message you get from your aunty, uncle or friends about JPJ’s new saman rate is a hoax, it was reported that JPJ will be conducting an operation starting January 29 until February 12, in conjunction with Chinese New Year la. It was also reported that the police will be issuing a mandatory summons of RM300 on the spot if you commit offences like driving in the emergency lane and overspeeding among other offences listed.

Oh, on a side note, if you happen to be like this writer and receive fake news (or any forwarded messages on WhatsApp), you can always post it on the Real Fake News Malaysia Facebook page and we can all investigate if the messages we receive are real or nahh.