SHAH ALAM: A total of 549 fraud and cheating cases have been recorded in Selangor since January, resulting in RM33.7mil in losses.

       The Selangor Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) opened 405 investigation papers on online scam and cyber crimes while another 144 cases were classified as non-online fraud cases, said Selangor police chief Comm Datuk Arjunaidi Mohamed.

       “Online and cyber crimes made up 73.8% of investigation papers opened by the department,” he said in a statement.

       Comm Arjunaidi explained that some of these cases involved victims and companies suffering losses ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of ringgit.

       “The victims were duped by scammers online. Some even had their online banking details hacked by syndicates.”

       He cited an example in which an account executive lodged a police report on Feb 22, claiming that his company lost about RM2.9mil.

       “It happened when the company’s email, which was used for Internet banking, was hacked.

       “The cyber criminals sent an email to the bank, attaching forms with forged employer signatures, asking it to change the online banking ID.

       “The bank approved the request without making further checks. As a result, RM2.9mil were transferred to 18 other accounts through 69 transactions,” he said.

       In another case, a senior citizen was scammed from Dec 5 last year until Jan 24, he said.

       “The 71-year-old victim was fooled by a social media site on assets and wills. He transferred RM6.3mil into two accounts via 50 transactions.”

       Comm Arjunaidi attributed such cases to several factors such as a lack of awareness and the victims’ own attitudes.

       Furthermore, he said the ease in which scammers could turn bank accounts into “mule accounts” also led to an increase of such cases.

       “Such a mule account will then be used to transfer millions of ringgit in funds from the victim’s account,” he said.

       Comm Arjunaidi said cooperation from banks is needed in combating cyber crimes.

       “We urge the banks to improve their Internet banking security system so that it does not get easily hacked by cyber criminals.

       “If there is any request to change the user ID via email or other suspicious requests to change online banking details, the banks should double-check with the account holder or company.

       “Banks should also have stricter check and balance systems for all ebanking matters to prevent the rampant emergence of mule accounts,” he said.

       Comm Arjunaidi advised the public to be cautious of cyber criminals or scammers.

       “Do not let your account be used as mule accounts as it is against the law,” he said.

       Those with information on commercial crime cases should check out ccid.rmp.gov.my/semakmule or contact CCID Scam Response Centre at 03-2610 1559/1599 or any nearest police station.