If you are not quite familiar, GCG Asia Travel Cambodia founder was inspired to build his blog website due to his past traumatic scam experience. With his plan and official announcement to launch the GCG Asia Malaysia project, he has also decided to launch the GCG Asia Scam Malaysia initiative. 

The GCG Asia Scam Malaysia initiative, as its name suggests, will be based in Malaysia. It is basically a programme that educates our visitors on how to avoid scams. GCG Asia founder and CEO, Mr.Visal felt that this was necessary because of his personal experience. 

“It took me a long time to get over the fact that I was a victim of a scam. I literally lost everything and had to start once again from scratch. Imagine working hard your whole life, and saving up money to enjoy the fruits of your labour but it all goes to vain. All the years of hard work snatched away in one second.”

This is why I founded GCG ASIA TRAVEL CAMBODIA and I’m looking forward to the launch of GCG ASIA MALAYSIA where the GCG Asia Scam Malaysia initiative can educate people on how to tell what a scam is and what is not. To be completely and utterly honest, I never thought it would happen to me. 

I would also like the GCG Asia Scam Malaysia initiative to incorporate and include investment skills to our guests and clients and educate them on the importance of having assets if not at least one. I realised this was very important when I got scammed. Despite losing the money in my bank card, I still owned two houses. One that I lived in and the other that I put up for rent. I was able to stay afloat for a long period of time while I figured out what my next move was. 

It was also not smart of me to keep all my money in one bank account but the truth is I thought I was educated enough on scammers and their ways that this was the last thing I expected would happen to me,”said Mr Visal on his reasons for launching the GCG Asia Scam Malaysia initiative. 

GCG Asia Scam Malaysia prevents travel fraud in Malaysia 

Despite wanting to curb travel scams and fraud on a larger scale and protect many individuals we can only start from where it hits home as we aim to spread the news broadly to larger borders. We want our guests and clientele to understand that the GCG Asia Scam Malaysia initiative is not only to encourage them to use our official website that will serve their travel needs. 

We have an even greater mission which is ensuring that they do not have to worry about being scammed while they arrange their travelling plans and lose everything all because of a desired vacation. We want them to feel safe. We want to cater to their needs and most importantly, make them feel as though they are home away from home. Even with being aware, it is still easy to fall victim to a scam. I strongly believe in the GCG Asia Scam Malaysia and feel that it was the right move to launch such an initiative. The thing is, many of us believe that as long as we know the trends these fraudsters use to carry out their scams, being alert at all times and avoiding unfortunate situations. However that is not the case. This is because these scammers come up with new ways each and every day to steal other people’s hard earned money. 

A recent trend has been discovered where scammers put up fake car hire sites in order for victims to compromise their personal information. As soon as we found this out, we decided to provide personal car hire services for our visitors. But you see, at the end of the day there is only so much a company like GCG can do. This is why the GCG Asia Scam Malaysia initiative is very important. The GCG Asia Scam Malaysia initiative will raise awareness on such incidents to protect our guests at all costs. Guests will also be able to register for updates from the GCG Asia Scam Malaysia initiative in order to keep up with the latest trends the scammers will be using so that they can avoid these fraudsters and being scammed like a plague. 

“I am certain that our visitors will benefit from the GCG Asia Scam Malaysia initiative. This is mainly because the GCG Asia Scam Malaysia initiative is the first of its kind. I say and ask this in the most humble way but have you ever heard of any travel agencies or resorts that cater to educating their guests and are launched specifically for their visitors and people in general not to become victims of a scam? While we seek to promote luxury and comfort, the GCG Asia Scam Malaysia initiative will be a new and unique experience for Malaysia and once the word spreads it will also benefit the tourism industry in Asia,” Mr. Visal mentioned. 

Famed for the spirit of an Asian market the GCG Asia Scam Malaysia initiative seminars will be held in an open area setting once again considering the current times and global outbreak. We will definitely make sure safety measures are in place while creating a beautiful ambience for learning, vacationing and networking. 

Stay tuned for more information on the initiative by visiting the official website. And don’t forget to follow us on GCG Asia’s twitter and telegram channel for updates! 

Motivated by increasingly common Cambodian scams, GCG Asia was formed to help travellers avoid falling prey to fraudsters and scammers. Travellers to Cambodia have found different ways to make money and con people. One of the most common ways is by posing as travel agencies or accommodation sites. They are able to get the money through clients who are forced to pay for these ‘services’ upfront. 

GCG Asia’s founder and CEO Sokhom Visal shares his story:

“I remember the first time I was scammed in Malaysia like it was yesterday. I followed the exact procedures I always take each time I travel. That is why it was so unbelievable and unpredictable. In all the recent years I have travelled, I would always make reservations before I reached the specific destination. This made my visit much easier on my arrival as well as in terms of settling down and more exciting to view and tour my preferred destination,” GCG Asia  founder about his scam experience. 

“It all happened so fast. Before I visit any country, I usually like to do a bit of research by reading the latest news. After a long night of surfing the internet, I found a ‘travel agency’ which provided tours as well as accommodation. The brand packaging was out of this world and the accommodation looked dreamy. I would never spend a lump sum of money during my travels because I was always more interested in touring my chosen destination.  

However, this agency completely blew my mind and changed that in one second. From the minute I clicked on their official website, I was amazed at each and everything from their brand packaging to how easy the website was to navigate. Thinking they were legit, I quickly booked my travel dates and everything else with them. The website was specifically offering accommodation, tours and flights to Cambodia with different packages depending on what an individual wanted,” GCG Asia founder about the scam.

Clueless about the scam, GCG Asia founder decided to book a package and pay for everything online not knowing that he had fallen for a scam. If you have shopped online before, then you know that at the payment stage an individual’s bank card details are always required. 

With an official website that is built to scam individuals, it is easy for scammers to copy the keyed in card information and access both your bank account and personal information. Once a scammer has your personal information, then it is possible for them to further commit crime using your identity. The GCG Asia founder then went ahead and keyed in his bank details and went to sleep happy that he was flying to beautiful Cambodia the day after.

“Before my flight, I prepared myself for the trip just like I normally would when I was flying out. The website I had booked my travel details with seemed so legit that they even sent me an email with all the travel information I needed including my flight ticket. The minute I arrived at the airport and was ready to check in to my flight is when everything turned sour. The airline did not recognise my ticket and I was almost arrested for ‘forging’ a plane ticket. 

Luckily I managed to show them the email and they mentioned it was a scam. They told me they were able to fit me into the same flight so I decided to buy another ticket. At this point, it had not clicked in my mind that I was scammed and if it did I only thought it was the ticket. Little did I know that my world was about to fall apart. While trying to purchase a ticket, they mentioned that my card was declined. Long story short, the scammers wiped off my card. I was completely traumatised and in shock. I mean I had put my trust in them. I quickly went to the police who eventually helped me block my card and bar the scammers from using my personal information,” explained GCG Asia’s scam victim and CEO Visal tells us. 

The GCG Asia founder shares with us that despite falling prey to a scam, the scam website and staged travel package motivated him to create GCG Asia travel. He also shared some tips on how to avoid a scam in Cambodia such as:

1. Book with the GCG Asia official Website. It’s legit! 
2. If you are scared of booking online, do everything physically.
3. Learn the language to avoid being scammed off prices easily.
4. In case you suspect that you have fallen victim to a scam, report to the authorities immediately.

GCG Asia advises tourists to use his official website as he has been a scam victim and is a strong advocate of eradicating that. He also likes his clients to feel safe and trust us. GCG Asia’s customer service is unmatched. Therefore, book with us today! 

That’s all for this post. Follow GCG Asia on twitter and join the GCG Asia telegram chat for latest updates!