KUALA LUMPUR: The total losses from commercial crime cases have reached RM1.5bil so far this year – a sharp increase compared to the same period last year, says Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf.
The Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director said the losses were recorded between Jan 1 and Aug 11, with 18,205 commercial crime cases investigated.
“While the number of cases fell by 8% compared to the same period last year, the losses showed a spike of 31% from RM1.16bil last year,” he said when contacted yesterday.Comm Ramli said curbing commercial crimes in an era of advanced technology is a challenge that demands commitment from the police, especially the CCID.
“So far, we are doing our best with 10,848 investigation papers successfully prosecuted this year,” he said.
Comm Ramli also said commercial crime cases are expected to increase by the end of this year, surpassing the previous year.“This trend is posing a challenge for the police to double our efforts to curb commercial crimes nationwide.
“We also urge the people to play their part, especially in commercial crime prevention,” he said.
On another matter, Comm Ramli said the CCID had detected a new job scam on social media sites.
“The syndicate advertised jobs to review a website, products and other items.
“It claimed the reviews will create more traffic for the website and that each reviewer will be paid at least RM15.90 and as high as RM6,188 per month, based on their review assignments,” he said.
Comm Ramli said police are checking if any individuals have fallen victim to the scam syndicate.
“We urge those who have been deceived by this tactic to come forward as soon as possible.”
Comm Ramli also reminded the public to be wary of part-time job offers that are too good to be true.
“Following the present economic slowdown, it makes no sense for an employer to offer such high salaries for simple work.
“Be smart and don’t be duped,” he added.