JPJ says fake driving licence scams still prevalent online, advises public not to be duped by such offers

The road transport department (JPJ) says that the scam involving the sale of fake driving licences is still prevalent on social media to this day, and has again advised the public to not fall for such offers.

The department’s deputy director-general (management) M. Janagarajan said forged licences, also known as ‘flying licences’ or lesen terbang, spell trouble because they are non-valid, as Bernama reports

“Actually, this is not an issue of a ‘flying licence’. The real issue is forgery. The licence is not a legitimate one. It is an offence committed by scammers whereby the ‘licence’ has no record nor does it exist in the JPJ system. If a driver obtains a licence by this means, he or she doesn’t actually own a valid licence and needs to remember that it is fake,” he said.

“The modus operandi of these scammers is to offer advertisements on social media saying that the document is a valid licence when in fact, it is not valid. Some victims make payments and, if they get lucky, are issued with what is a fake licence, while there are also victims complaining that the scammer’s account is closed and cannot be traced once payment is made,” he added.

“What the public needs to remember is that any holder of this fake licence can only use it for a short time before this forgery is detected when the driver tries to renew the driving licence the following year,” he said.

Janagarajan said the department has identified many victims of such licence scammers, and action is being taken through the JPJ’s driving licensing integrity department. He said that through cooperation with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and police, court action would be taken against suspects who scam the public.

The sale of illegal driving licences has been around for a good while, with continued posts on social media offering a variety of “convenient” services. These include vehicle ownership transfers that do not require the original owner’s registration document, renewal of road tax that has lapsed (beyond three years) without requiring a Puspakom inspection as well as the ability for a buyer to obtain a driving licence without sitting for the theory and practical exams.

These fake licences have been popping up on foreign shores, such as Australia – last April, a Malaysian woman was caught for driving with a fake Malaysian driver’s licence in New South Wales, and later in the year, three more Malaysians were hauled up for similar offences.

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