ACCORDING to the Cambridge Dictionary, “too good to be true” is an English idiom used to describe something that seems so exceptionally favourable, pleasant or ideal that it is hard to believe it is real, genuine or lasting.
That seems to be the fear gripping Threader dailymetotree (@dailymetotree) who seemed to be at his wit’s end in trying to warn a family member from falling for a potential scam job offer.
Reaching out to those from the oil and gas (O&G) industry, he enquired if a certain “FP Petroleum Sdn Bhd” was a legit concern as it had purportedly made a lucrative job offer to a relative.
The offer of “RM10K monthly salary” alongside living quarters was apparently made without any sort of look on the applicant’s academic qualifications.
Alas, the family member – blinded by the unbelievable offer – refuses to heed the warning of relatives who feat it is a too-good-to-be-true scenario.
Having met the purported “employer”, the budding worker saw nothing to raise suspicions and the company seemed to have the relevant “company documents”.
The plea for help has generated 3.2K Likes, 578 comments, 465 re-posts and 467 shares at time of publication with quite a few commenters pointing out the obvious red flags – “an authentic O&G firm never uses Gmail” which is a free web-based email service developed by Google.
It was quite rightly pointed out that any O&G company worth its salt would never use Gmail for official communications.
Henceforth, the job offer could very likely be a scam but how does one convince a family member who has been reeled in hook, line and sinker with promises of a fabulous wage (as well as accommodation).
“Be warned of human trafficking syndicates!” This was the stark warning given by this commenter who also found it strange that an organistaion purportedly part of a group of companies was still relying on Gmail as its company domain.
It was also noted that the principal in the business card carried the professional designation of ‘Ir’ (denoting the person is a registered engineer). It was suggested that a search be carried out on the Board of Engineers’ website to verify whether this person is genuine or a suspected scammer.
Editor’s Note: In Malaysia, the ‘Ir’ designation is used exclusively by Professional Engineers (PE) registered with the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM). Using the title without active registration is legally restricted.
Other red flags included the lack of a brick-and-mortar office as per Google Maps while there seems to be no digital footprint associated with this company.
These suspicions were also shared by this commenter who noted that this company was not on LinkedIn either and there seemed to be no prior history of staff being ever employed by this firm.
Although FP Petroleum claims to be part of a group, no other subsidiaries appear on LinkedIn or via Google search.
One eagle-eyed corporate citizen further noted that this company has been registered with Companies Commission Malaysia (Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia) for 14 years but has yet to have a permanent physical address.
A veteran of the corporate environment sagely advised the potential employee that “no CEO or C level types in big corporations will be conducting interviews unless for a very high post in the company”.
It was further cautioned that all those “big numbers and big projects exist only on paper”.
The red flags are there, fluttering for all to see. Unfortunately, when one is blinded by offers too-good-be-true, there is all the probability of falling prey to a well-organised and thought-out scam.
“Beware of sweet promises.” As one commenter pointed out, it is one thing to lose some money, it is quite another to be kidnapped and forced into working as a scammer abroad (in Cambodia or Myanmar).
“Worse was to be harvested for one’s organs and dumped in some bush somewhere,” he warned. “Plenty of similar cases have been reported in the papers.”
The parting advice – “If it’s too good to be true, it is usually a scammer.” – Oct 18, 2026
Main image: India Lawshield/LinkedIn
