In police custody: Comm Ramli pointing to pictures of those detained in the investment scam case. — AZLINA ABDULLAH/The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: A company owner and several secretaries were used by a syndicate as mule account holders to operate an investment scam.
The syndicate advertised on Facebook in March, luring victims by offering returns of up to 400%. Police successfully busted these scam operators with the arrests of six individuals, said Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf.
The three men and three women, aged between 31 and 54, were detained during various raids in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Melaka, Pahang and Johor on July 15.
“Those detained included a company owner and secretaries, who were used by the syndicate as mule account holders.
“A total of 15 bank accounts, with funds totalling RM474,395, have been frozen,” he told a press conference yesterday.
Comm Ramli said the syndicate promised up to 400% returns on money invested.
“The syndicate would inform victims that there were profits on their investments, but when they tried to withdraw the money, they were charged various fees and were still unable to do so. A total of 48 reports were lodged, with more than RM21mil in losses.”
Online investment fraud has the highest number of losses.
“Last year, 5,386 cases were recorded, involving RM472mil in losses, equivalent to 38.7% of the total losses from online scams recorded last year.
This year, the trend continues with 2,698 cases recorded, resulting in RM345mil losses,” said Comm Ramli.
In another case, a total of nine police reports were lodged over a phishing scam using a recycling service, involving RM249,693 in losses.
Comm Ramli said police detected the phishing scam tactic through an offer to buy used items under the guise of a recycling service on Facebook (Eco Recycling).
“Through the advertisement, the company offers to buy used items such as mobile gadgets, clothing and old newspapers. Victims who wanted to sell such items were then told to register under the Home Solution application via a link sent to WhatsApp.”
After registering, Comm Ramli added, victims were then required to pay a RM10 deposit supposedly to book a slot for the collection of the used items.
Victims were then directed to a page displaying a fake banking website designed to capture their data and password.
“After entering their username and password, the website would not be accessible as it was supposedly under maintenance,” he said.
The victims’ mobile phones would also be hacked by the syndicate, he said.
“Victims would only realise they had been duped after finding their money had been transferred to other accounts without their knowledge,” he said.
Comm Ramli explained that phishing is a tactic where criminals try to get personal details, passwords, card credit numbers or other sensitive data by posing as a trusted entity.
“Such attacks are usually conducted through emails, text messages or fake websites,” he said.
Comm Ramli advised the public to always be wary and not download links to any applications sent via emails and text messages.
