Cops nab 6 Nigerians and 1 local woman involved in love scams

 

Police advised the public to always be wary of requests for friendship or love on social media, especially of those who send parcels containing ‘gifts’.

KUALA LUMPUR: Police have arrested six Nigerian men and a local woman believed to be members of a syndicate involved in love scams.

This followed two raids around Kajang on June 23.

All those arrested were aged between 33 and 42. The syndicate, which has been active for the past five years, is believed to have targeted Malaysians and foreigners.

Bukit Aman Commercial CID director Mohd Kamarudin Md Din said their investigation revealed that the syndicate was also linked to at least eight love scam cases, involving losses estimated at RM3.7 million.

“The investigation also found that the syndicate members entered the country using student and social visas.

“When their visas expired, they continued to live here illegally to continue with their fraud activities,” he said in a statement today.

He said police also seized eight laptop computers, 17 mobile phones, three thumb drives, two modems, two routers, two ATM cards, a set of keys, two Nigerian passports and various other documents.

Kamarudin said the syndicate operated in two separate groups, with one creating fake accounts on social media while the other looked for mule accounts.

“The syndicate then worked with locals, who would pose as Customs officers or employees of courier companies, to dupe their victims.”

Kamarudin advised the public to always be wary of requests for friendship or love on social media, especially those who promised gifts.

“Don’t be easily deceived by any phone calls, WhatsApp messages, messages from Customs or courier companies asking for payments so that the parcels can be sent to you.”

He urged the public to verify the account and telephone numbers via the portal to check if the accounts had been linked to previous fraud cases before making any payments.

“The public can contact the CCID Scam Response Centre at 03-26101559 or 03-26101599 or by sending a WhatsApp message to the CCID Infoline at 013-2111222 if they have any information on such cases,” he said. - FMT