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

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 — The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) has issued a warning to businesses and the public about scammers posing as its officials through email and WhatsApp. The fraudsters target vendors with the intention of procuring urgent services for overseas trade delegations, booth translation services for international exhibitions, and corporate recreational events.

They request sensitive documents such as company profiles, registration certificates, bank statements, and Ministry of Finance certificates, which are then used to create fake letters of award and government purchase orders. Matrade has received reports of numerous companies losing money by paying upfront to third-party suppliers or designated sub-contractors.

These scammers instruct recipients to buy goods and gifts from appointed sub-vendors before government payments arrive, and these third-party entities are fraudulent accounts operated by the syndicate. The agency has reported the incident to the police and CyberSecurity Malaysia, and advised businesses to verify all procurement requests, ensuring that communications come from Matrade's official email addresses ending with "@matrade.gov.my".

Matrade stresses that it does not conduct procurement negotiations through commercial email providers or personal messaging platforms, and all exercises comply with Malaysian Treasury Circulars and formal government procurement channels. They advise against disclosing confidential information without verification and urge affected companies to contact the National Scam Response Centre at 997, file a police report, and provide transaction records to aid investigations.

Businesses can contact Matrade at 03-6207 7077 or email info@matrade.gov.my for inquiries and to verify procurement requests.