The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) revealed that there were a total of 98,608 online cases reported in Malaysia from 2017 to 2021, with a total loss of over RM3.3 billion!
According to BERNAMA, Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) assistant director, Supt. Rozeni Ismail revealed the shocking figures last Thursday (March 10th), stating that around 30,000 people were detained during the period.
Photo via The Malaysian Reserve
And out of the 30,000, a total of 25,000 people were charged in court.
Rozeni said that a majority of the cases involved Macau Scam, online purchases, non-existent money loans and love scam.
One of the reasons scammers were able to deceive their victims was because they used social media to recruit victims to become mule account holders, allowing scammers to use their personal bank accounts to conduct financial transactions related to their online criminal activities.
Kuala Lumpur Police Chief, Datuk Azmi Abu Kassim also claimed that online fraud incidents such as Macau Scam, Love Scam and e-purchase had increased in KL. Last year, around 4,340 cases were reported with a total loss of RM655 million, compared to 4,062 cases and a loss of RM637 million in 2020.
“This shows that a small number of people are still being scammed by “cheap offers” online, and are easily convinced, unaware of cybercrime, resulting in millions of Ringgit in losses.
“Some of them even said that they had never heard of such online frauds and had never been told anything about them,” he said.
Photo via Malay Mail
Be careful, guys! Scammers can sometimes be very convincing, so please DO NOT fall into their trap, and always be careful and informed!
By: Aishah Akashah Ahadiat
