KUALA LUMPUR – The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) busted an online jewellery scam syndicate following the arrest of four individuals in two separate raids in the federal capital and Selangor last Thursday.
PDRM secretary Datuk Noorsiah Mohd Saaduddin said the four individuals, aged 26 to 45, consisted of a man, two local women and a female with permanent resident status suspected to be the mastermind of their operation.
She said the syndicate is believed to have been active since mid-2022 by creating groups through the Telegram and Instagram applications to advertise jewellery and then look for victims.
“Victims who are interested in the advertised jewellery will be contacted by a syndicate member and instructed to make a payment to a specific account.
“However, after the payment was made, the promised jewellery was not received by the victim,” she said in a statement today.
Noorsiah said that during the raid, police seized six mobile phones, two bank cards and seven copies of WhatsApp conversations suspected to be used for fraudulent activities.
“With the arrest of the syndicate, PDRM believes that at least six cases related to jewellery scams involving losses totalling RM17,100 have been resolved,” she said.
All the suspects had been remanded for two days from Friday, and the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.
“The public is advised to be vigilant to prevent such cases from becoming rampant. They can obtain information and advice from the Commercial Crime Investigation Department or contact the National Scam Response Center at 997,” she said. – Bernama, January 29, 2023
