Frozen After a Buyer Paid With Scam Money?

How do honest sellers get caught in a freeze?

You run an honest online business on Shopee, Lazada, Carousell or social media. A buyer orders and pays by bank transfer.

You send the item. You think the sale is done.

What you did not know is that the money came from a scam victim’s account. ^[f1] A syndicate may have taken over someone’s account and used it to shop. When the victim reports the scam, police trace where the money went, and your account is one of the places it landed.

Banks can flag accounts that receive money from reported scam victims. ^[f2] The flag is triggered by where the money came from, not by what you did. A real sale and a delivered item do not stop it.

Why does the freeze happen?

Account freezes under CPC s116D or AMLA s44 can cover every account that received reported scam money. ^[f4] A freeze is a tool for the investigation, not a verdict. It keeps the money trail in place while police work out where the stolen funds went.

For an online seller this hurts. Your income is locked, so you cannot pay suppliers, give refunds or take new payments, and the business stalls through no fault of yours.

A freeze does not mean you are charged with a crime; it means your account is part of an investigation. Police detected 46,048 mule accounts in 2023 and 50,295 in 2024. ^[f5] As a genuine seller you can respond, but you need to present your case properly.

How do your business records clear you?

Your business records are your most useful evidence. ^[f3] Every invoice, delivery receipt and chat with a customer shows the payment was for a real product or service.

Gather your transaction records. For each payment in question, collect the order confirmation, the invoice, proof of delivery (courier tracking, signed delivery or photos) and your messages with the buyer. Shopee or Lazada records showing the order and its delivery status are especially useful.

Show your business history. SSM registration if you have it, your seller profile, sales history and customer reviews all show a real business. The longer and steadier your trading record, the stronger your position.

Match each payment to a sale. A lawyer who handles frozen account cases can match each flagged payment to its sale. That one-to-one match is the clearest proof your account was not a mule account.

What should you do right now?

If your account was frozen after a buyer paid you from an account linked to a scam, take these steps.

Keep your platform records. Log in to your Shopee, Lazada or Carousell seller account and save records of all the sales involved. Download order details, tracking numbers and customer chats, as platforms may archive or delete them.

Contact your bank. Ask which authority ordered the freeze and for the investigation reference number. Note the name and contact details of the bank officer handling it, and ask whether you can send in business records.

Do not move money around your other accounts in a panic. Unusual activity elsewhere during an investigation can raise new flags. Keep using your unaffected accounts as normal.

Get a lawyer. A lawyer who handles frozen account cases can deal with the investigating officer, present your records and work towards lifting the freeze.

Plan how to take payments meanwhile. You may need a temporary way to keep trading. Do not open a new account to move frozen money. A lawyer can advise on other payment options that do not create new legal problems.

What can an honest seller show?

A genuine seller can show exactly what each payment was for. Every sale has a product, a buyer, a delivery and a record, which is what investigators want to see.

The investigation is looking for mule accounts that receive and pass on money with no real trade behind it. If your records show money coming in and goods going out, that is the pattern of a real business.

A lawyer can set out this evidence clearly for the investigating officer. Sending it in early gives the officer the records to review.

How can you protect your business from now on?

Once the immediate problem is handled, take a few steps to lower the risk of another freeze.

Use the platform’s own payment system where you can. Payments through ShopeePay or Lazada Wallet add records that tie each payment to a checked order.

Keep full records of every sale. If you keep informal records now, moving to invoices, receipts and delivery tracking gives you a paper trail you can rely on.

These steps cannot rule out another freeze, but they may make it quicker to clear if one happens.

Sources

1. Low & Partners, “Keldai Accounts: When Helping a Friend Becomes a Criminal Offence” (2024)
2. Bank Negara Malaysia, Anti-Money Laundering Guidelines
3. Criminal Procedure Code (Amendment) 2024, Section 116D
4. Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA), Section 44