A new e-payment scam is circulating where customers trick merchants into believing they've paid the full amount using QR codes, when in reality only one sen is transferred. The scam relies on the payment system's audio notification, leading merchants to hand over goods before verifying the transaction.
Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter, or Telegram and WhatsApp channels for the latest stories and updates. A CCTV clip circulating widely on social media has captured what appears to be an e-payment scam in action — and the method is alarmingly simple.
A customer enters a shop, selects goods and requests a mobile top-up service. They scan the QR code to pay. The payment system makes its familiar “received” notification sound. The merchant hands over the goods.
The customer leaves. The actual amount received: one sen. According to the affected merchant, the incident occurred on 20 April, at around 8 pm. The customer — wearing a helmet inside the shop, apparently to obscure their face from CCTV — used QR code payment for goods and a mobile top-up worth hundreds of ringgit.
The system’s audio notification triggered as usual, giving the impression that full payment had been received. But before the transaction could be fully verified, the customer had already collected the top-up credits and goods and left the premises in a hurry. Outside, a second person was waiting on a motorcycle, and both left together immediately.
One Sen Triggers The Sound, The Full Amount Never Arrives The fraud exploits a simple but effective gap: the difference between a payment notification sound and actual confirmation of the amount received. Most merchants operating busy counters rely on the audio alert as a signal that payment is complete.
The scammer manipulates this by initiating a transaction for a minimal amount — in this case, one sen — that still triggers the system’s notification sound, while the full amount is never actually transferred. By the time the merchant checks the actual amount credited to their account, the goods are already gone.
One commenter put it plainly: “If someone enters a shop without removing their helmet, and their friend is waiting on a motorcycle outside, there is an 80 per cent chance they have bad intentions. ” That detail alone — a customer refusing to remove their helmet inside a shop — should serve as an immediate red flag for merchants before any transaction takes place.
Another commenter was equally direct: “It’s just not right if someone is wearing a helmet inside a shop. ” Don’t Trust The Beep, Check The Screen The affected merchant has issued a direct warning to other business owners: do not rely solely on the payment notification sound. Always verify the actual amount received on your device or payment dashboard before handing over any goods or services.
One practical tip shared by the public is worth noting: do not hand over the plastic bag containing the goods until payment is fully confirmed. It is a small procedural change that closes the window through which the scammer exploits it. The scam requires no technical hacking. It exploits familiarity, trust and the speed of retail transactions; the defence against it is equally simple: check the screen, not just the sound.
No police report has been publicly confirmed in connection with this incident, and the suspect has not been identified at the time of writing. The 1 sen payment method cuts both ways; victims of scams have begun using the same technique to flag fraudulent QR codes — scanning and paying 1 sen to a scammer’s account as a way to generate transaction records, trigger reports and publicly identify fraudulent payment accounts View on Threads Share your thoughts with us via TRP’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Threads.
QR Code Scam E-Payment Fraud Mobile Top-Up Security Vulnerability Retail Crime
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