BALIK PULAU – Besides warning the public against falling prey to love and business scams, the police are increasing the safety net for such cases by ensuring money is not transferred to bogus accounts.
This can be done by checking the bank account numbers they are transferring the money to against the list of bogus account numbers provided by the police’s commercial crimes division website.
If such accounts appear on the list, they are most likely to be fraudulent.
“This is to check against the growing number of victims falling prey to online love and business scams,” said Balik Pulau police chief Kamarul Rizal Jenal.
The public can also download on the list of bogus bank account numbers on their Android devices via Google Play.
The numbers were accumulated by the police from cases of people who were cheated into parting with their money via online transactions with scammers.
“It is all part of our effort to instil awareness among the public to not transact money online, especially to people they have never met.”
Kamarul said this in reference to a local businesswoman, aged 47, who fell victim to a syndicate prowling on lonely women.
The victim got to know the man via Facebook in April last year who told her that he was originally from the United States and was in need of money after encountering some financial difficulties in trying to finalise an oil exploration project in Italy.
The victim fell for the scam and transferred a sum of RM74,000 in several tranches into two accounts provided by the scammer.
The woman began suspecting something was amiss and confided in an associate who told her to check the man’s Facebook profile.
To her horror, she discovered that the man’s profile and photographs were bogus.
The victim then lodged a police report, which is now being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property.
The crime is punishable with a jail term of between one and 10 years, with whipping and a fine.
Kamarul urged the public to be extra cautious, especially during the lockdown when cybercrime is on the rise. – The Vibes, June 18, 2021
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