Cops: Victims duped by investment fraud due to greed
KUALA LUMPUR: Investment scams are showing an upward trend based on statistics, say police.
Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said a total of 8,655 investment scams had been recorded since last year resulting in RM875.4mil in losses.
He said as of July, a total of 5,724 individuals had been arrested.
“Most of those detained were mule account holders and agents of the investment scam syndicates.
“An investment scam is divided into two categories, which is in person or online,” he said.
When conducted in person, Comm Ramli said the victims and suspects would interact with each other before the suspects would entice them to join an investment offered.
“For an online investment scam, the suspects will advertise the purported investments via social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram.
“In this situation, the victims do not know the suspects as every interaction is being done on social media or messaging applications,” he said.
Comm Ramli said among the modus operandi used by the syndicate was to promote purported syariah compliant-investment products.
“They will also claim that their investments are certified by the Securities Commission or Bank Negara Malaysia in order to dupe victims.
“Greed and ignorance are among the main factors why people are being duped in investment scams, especially via social media.
“Some people are easily enticed by sweet promises of high returns in a short time.
“Always remember, if an investment sounds too good to be true, then most probably it is a scam,” he said.
Comm Ramli also reminded the public to always verify the authenticity of any investment before investing.
“Refer to the authorities to check the validity of an investment being advertised.
“They can also use the SemakMule portal to check and verify bank accounts before making any transaction,” he added.
