KUALA LUMPUR: Beware of scammers posing as officers from the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC), says Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf.
The Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director said there were 23 reports of scammers using NSRC’s name since January this year.
“It resulted in RM720,495 in losses. The scammers would call victims and introduce themselves as NSRC officers.
“They would tell the victims their phone numbers would be terminated following reports that they had sent illegal web links and fraud messages,” he told a press conference at the CCID headquarters yesterday.
“The scammers would then connect the call to another individual posing as an investigating officer.
“The victims would be instructed to transfer money into a bank account for the purpose of the investigation,” he added.
Comm Ramli reminded the public that the NSRC only receives calls from the public.
“It is a one-way communication. The NSRC does not call any individual, so anyone claiming to be from NSRC is a scammer,” he said.
Since its inception on Oct 12 last year, the NSRC has received 36 reports of cheating cases daily.
“Overall, 15,133 calls were made to the NSRC involving losses of about RM173.33mil between Oct 12 last year and Nov 30 this year.
“The NSRC managed to block the transaction of RM33.04mil or 19% of the overall losses,” said Comm Ramli.
He urged scam victims to contact the NSRC 997 hotline as soon as possible or in less than 24 hours of any cheating incident.
“The faster the report is made, the higher the probability the transaction can be blocked,” he said.
In another case, Bukit Aman managed to trace a ransom paid in cryptocurrency for a Malaysian man, who was kidnapped in Manila, Philippines.
The trace, which was made possible by CCID’s own cryptocurrency lab, led to the identification of six foreign suspects involved in the kidnapping and subsequent murder of the victim.
Comm Ramli said on Oct 24, the Malaysian consulate in Manila received a report from a Malaysian man, saying his young brother, who was working in the city, was kidnapped on Oct 23.
“The kidnappers demanded a RM330,000 ransom, which was paid via cryptocurrency.
“However, the victim was later found dead at San Simon, Pampanga,” he said.
On Nov 9, the consulate’s attache requested the CCID to analyse the transaction flow into a crypto wallet belonging to one of the suspects, he said.
“Our analysis revealed that the cryptocurrency was transferred to an exchange that was not registered in Malaysia.
“Information from the exchange revealed the identity of six foreign suspects.
“We believe it will assist the investigation into the kidnapping and murder of the Malaysian. We have passed all the information to the police attaché at the Malaysian consulate,” he said.
Comm Ramli said the CCID has its own Cryptocurrency Crime Investigation Unit, which was formed in 2018.
“In 2021, the unit received equipment to set up a lab designated to analyse cryptocurrency transactions. The lab was opened on May 31 last year, the first such lab in South-East Asia.
“Since beginning its operation, the lab has analysed 532 ewallets, involving more than RM1bil,” he added.
