Scammers using police’s e-reporting facility to con victims

 

Bukit Aman CCID director Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf has advised the public to be aware about the latest fraud tactics. (Bernama pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: Scammers have been taking advantage of the police’s e-reporting facility, which allows the public to lodge reports about non-crime related incidents, to ensnare victims.

Bukit Aman commercial crime investigation department (CCID) director Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said that scammers have been posing as officials from courier companies and calling up potential victims, telling them they have unclaimed packages.

“The caller will then be connected to scammers posing as policemen during a video call, during which they will be convinced to make a report online and interact with fake officers with realistic backgrounds of a police station,” he said during a press conference at Menara KPJ here.

The victims will then be told they are being investigated for involvement in crimes such as money laundering and asked to open a new bank account and transfer all their money from other accounts into it. The victims will also be told to provide the login details of this new account, which the scammers will then use to siphon the victims money.

Ramli said the police received 34 reports related to such scams last year, involving a loss of RM1.01 million, while 14 reports had been received involving a loss of RM960,500 this year.

He advised the public to be cautious and said police would not receive reports or conduct an investigation through video calls, adding that such probes would only be done face-to-face at police stations.

Meanwhile, Ramli also said a syndicate using Singaporean mule bank accounts to divert their ill-gotten gains from a call centre scam was busted during a recent raid, during which the police also seized 13 handphones, two laptops, two routers, a set of house keys as well as a Toyota Supra.

Three men and two women aged between 24 and 28 years old were arrested during the March 19 raid, and they are being investigated under Section 120B(2) of the Penal Code for criminal conspiracy. Those detained worked as supervisors and customer service officers at the call centre in Segambut.

In a separate case, 19 people allegedly involved in a syndicate that promised profits of up to 10% returns each week were arrested during a raid at a business premise in Jalan Ampang on Monday. Ramli said four local men, four local women, and six men and five women from China were detained.

He said the police had received a complaint from a Taiwanese man who claimed he was cheated after being invited by a friend to participate in a scheme to buy and sell goods online through a company purportedly linked to Amazon.

The victim then transferred RM331,000 to an e-wallet account but did not receive any of the promised profits. The police confiscated eight laptops, three notepads, two computers, 31 mobile phones, a modem and a router, an access card, a Bentley and RM23,400 in cash. - FMT