SEREMBAN: Police believe they have solved at least 50 cheating cases related to the buying of handphones following the arrests of six suspects in Shah Alam, Selangor.

       State Commercial Crimes Investigation Department chief Supt Aibee Ab Ghani said the suspects, including three women, aged between 20 and 44 were detained in several raids on Feb 20.

       "The suspects have admitted that they had been active since 2017.

       "They also admitted to have cheated more than 50 individuals of their handphones which were later sold to others," he said in a statement.

       Supt Aibee said police have so far received 20 such reports involving losses amounting to some RM60,000.

       Eleven cases were reported in Negri Sembilan alone.

       He said police last received a report on Feb 20 from a 24-year-old woman claiming that she had been cheated by a male suspect.

       "The victim saw an advertisement placed by the suspect on Facebook saying that he was keen to buy mobile phones.

       "They then met at the Terminal One shopping complex on Feb 17 and the suspect agreed to buy her iPhone 13 for RM3,300," he said.

       Supt Aibee said the suspect then told the victim that he would transfer the payment online into her account and later showed proof of the transaction.

       The woman, convinced that money had been banked into her account, then handed over her mobile phone to the suspect.

       However, when she checked her account a short while later, there was no such transaction.

       She then tried to contact the suspect but to no avail.

       Acting on her report, a police team carried out several raids and detained the suspects.

       Also seized from them was a car, 10 mobile phones and SIM cards and seven ATM cards.

       All the suspects have been remanded and the investigation papers would be forwarded to the deputy public prosecutor's office for further action.

       "We would like to urge other victims who had been cheated to also come forward and lodge reports to allow us to probe their cases.

       "We would also like to advise the public to exercise caution when they buy or sell stuff online or even when face-to-face to avoid getting cheated," he said.

       Supt Aibee said the public can always verify information with the CCID Scam Response Centre at 03-26101559/1599, send a WhatsApp to the CCID infoline at 013-211 1222 or at semakmule.rmp.gov.my.