Petaling Jaya district police chief Mohamad Fakhrudin Abdul Hamid said they received a message via WhatsApp today on collecting donations to prepare daily food for people in Gugusan Semarak, which is part of the area under the EMCO.

He said the message stated that the Kota Damansara police had been requested to provide daily food for 10 days in the area and that donations could be made to a Maybank account number 564801657304 on behalf of Bekind Malaysia.

“Police deny they had made any request as claimed in the viral message because no assistance is required from any party for the EMCO to be carried out,” he said in a statement today.

Fakhrudin added that his team suspected that there were individuals or associations who took advantage by trying to collect donations for their personal gains.

He advised anyone who had made any payment to the specified bank account to come forward to lodge a police report to assist in investigations.

“The public are advised not to be easily deceived by any posting or viral message that is said to involve the police. The community is also advised to check with the police first as a precaution to avoid becoming victims of fraud,” he said.