Kedah cops foil cartel’s bid to set up Macau scam centre
ALOR STAR: Kedah police have foiled an attempt by a group comprising Taiwanese nationals and locals to set up an operation centre to carry out Macau scams and loan fraud activities in the state.
Kedah Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief Superintendent Chan Teck Paing said this following a raid at a condominium near here at noon last Wednesday by a team comprising state and Kota Setar policemen.
Police detained three local men and three Taiwanese men, believed to be the masterminds of the syndicate, who entered Malaysia on tourist permits. The suspects were aged between 20 and 37.
“Police also nabbed another local man suspected of recruiting bank account mules, to be used by the syndicate to receive their illicit proceeds,” he said at a press conference at the state police contingent headquarters here.
He said police seized items worth RM15,000, including a computer, a laptop, SIM cards and mobile phones, as well as automated teller machine cards believed to have been used to carry out the scam.
He said in the first three months of this year, police recorded 28 cases of fraud involving Macau scams worth RM500,000 and 50 cases of loan frauds with total losses amounting to RM240,000.
“In 2017, police recorded 158 cases of Macau scams with losses amounting to RM4.1 million and 241 loan fraud cases with losses totaling RM1.2 million.”
He said people could check the police website ccid.rmp.gov.my/semakmule to check if a bank account had been used to carry out commercial crimes.
“Do not hand over or rent your bank account, much less reveal your ATM card’s number or pin number, to a third party,” he said.