KUALA LUMPUR: Politicians, VIPs and high-ranking government officers are among the main targets of scammers posing as such individuals on Telegram and WhatsApp, say the police.

       The modus operandi of the scammers is to ask for financial assistance from the victims’ friends listed on the applications.

       Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Mohd Kamarudin Md Din said 1,710 cases have been reported involving RM11.47mil in losses between 2020 and February this year.

       “A total of 823 cases were reported in 2020 with RM6.19mil in losses, followed by 778 cases involving RM4.8mil in losses last year.

       “For this year, 109 cases have already been reported resulting in RM478,016 in losses,” he said.

       Comm Mohd Kamarudin said most victims realised their messaging accounts have been hacked when those in their friends’ list informed them that they had received a message asking to borrow money.

       “Smartphone users are advised to be more careful if they receive a message from unknown individuals asking for their passwords for their messaging applications.

       “The passwords will be used to take over the victim’s messaging accounts. They will then pose as the victim to fool those who are on their friends’ list.

       “We advise the public to activate two-step verification for such applications to prevent their messaging accounts from being hacked,” he said.