Advance fee scam: what you can do

The message that says you are owed something

The approach can take many forms: a prize you supposedly won, a tax refund, an inheritance from an unknown relative, or a parcel held at customs. Each story is different, but all of them end the same way, with a request to pay a small fee first.

The message often arrives by SMS, email, or a chat app, and creates a sense that something good is waiting for you, if only you complete one more step.

Because the story promises money or a benefit coming to you, it can feel less suspicious than a request to invest or transfer funds directly.

The fee that stands between you and the “prize”

The fee is described as a tax, a processing charge, a customs duty, or an administrative cost, always framed as the last requirement before release. It is usually small compared to the prize or refund being promised.

This size difference is deliberate. A few hundred ringgit feels like a reasonable cost to unlock a much larger amount, so many people pay without checking further.

No genuine prize, refund, or inheritance requires the recipient to pay money first. Real processes deduct any charges from the amount owed, they do not collect fees upfront from you.

Why it never actually gets released

Once you pay, a new obstacle appears: a second fee, a “release code” that costs more, or a claim that your payment did not go through correctly. Each explanation asks for further payment.

There is no version of this scam that ends with the prize or refund being paid out. The fees themselves are the entire purpose, and the story continues only as long as you keep paying.

Recognising this pattern early, after the very first unusual fee request, is the most effective way to limit any loss.

How this connects to other scams

This same fee-first pattern appears inside job and task scams, where a “top-up deposit” is requested to release earnings. It also appears inside a loan scam, where processing fees are requested before a loan that never comes. The underlying trick is the same each time.

If you recognise this pattern in a message you received, treating it the same way, stopping payment and reporting, applies regardless of which story was used.

What to do next

Stop paying and do not click any link sent with the message. Report the message to the police, including the Commercial Crime Investigation Department, and keep screenshots of everything you received.

If you already paid and the transfer was recent, call the National Scam Response Centre on 997. Read about the first hour after a scam for what to do immediately. A short conversation with someone outside the situation can help you see it clearly before you pay again.