Johor police chief Comm M. Kumar (middle) shaking hands with a visitor during his walkabout at Chinese New Year bazaar held along Jalan Dedap 14 in Taman Johor Jaya on Monday (Feb 5). Looking on is Johor Baru City Council (MBJB) councillor Chan San San (left).
JOHOR BARU: Scam victims in Johor lost more than RM26mil last month, say police.
State police chief Comm M. Kumar said in January, 534 cheating cases have been recorded compared to 231 cases in the same period last year. An increase of 303 cases or 131%.
“Cheating cases for January this year accounted for 91% of the total 586 commercial crime cases recorded by the Johor police.
“We are receiving an average of one report lodged from victims being cheated by scammers per day at police stations across the state,” he added.
Comm Kumar said this in a press conference after conducting a walkabout at the Chinese New Year bazaar, which was held along Jalan Dedap 14 in Taman Johor Jaya on Monday (Feb 5).
He added that cheating cases recorded losses amounting to RM26.4mil last month compared to RM8.4mil in the same period last year. An increase of RM17.9mil or 213%.
Comm Kumar said there were four types of cheating cases that recorded a significant increase in January this year compared to January 2023.
“Among the cases are online purchases, which already recorded 127 cases, fake investments (107 cases), non-existing loans (77 cases), and job offers (77 cases),” he added.
Comm Kumar said that the public should be more vigilant when coming across offers made by unknown individuals to avoid being scam victims.
“The victims also included those with professional jobs. Do not fall into these scammers' traps, no matter what offer they make.
“If the offer is too good to be true, then it is a scam trying to cheat you from your hard-earned savings,” he said.
