JOHOR BARU: Johor police have opened 22 investigation papers involving phone scam cases and 13 for investment scams.
State police chief Comm Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat said the investigations were conducted from Aug 17 to 22 this year.
He said victims of the phone scams were aged between 40 and 60 and suffered losses ranging from RM2,000 to RM1.43mil.
"The victims were conned by suspects impersonating police and bank officers," Comm Kamarul Zaman said in a statement on Wednesday (Aug 23).
He said the suspects would either claim to be officers from the police, Bank Negara, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Inland Revenue Board, Pos Malaysia, insurance or courier companies.
Comm Kamarul Zaman said their modus operandi was to inform the victims that they were implicated in illegal activities.
He added calls would be transferred to other "officers" from different agencies offering to solve the case and victims would have to transfer a certain amount of money into given bank accounts for investigation purposes.
"Most of the time, victims transfer the money as instructed fearing arrest," said Comm Kamarul Zaman.
On fake investment schemes, he said syndicates use social media platforms to promote them accompanied with reviews or comments from others who had profits from the schemes.
"Victims do not receive the returns on investment (ROI) as promised and end up losing money," said Comm Kamarul Zaman.
He said victims aged from 35 to 80 suffered losses ranging from RM2,260 to RM275,141.
Comm Kamarul Zaman said all cases are being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code and advised victims of frauds to contact the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) at 997 as a preliminary action to block money from the suspect's account.
