By Zaki Salleh
Photo IPK Perak
IPOH: Another new tactic of online fraud or scammers has been revealed when they trick victims by using fake arrest warrant documents with police logos.
The fraud was detected by the Perak police based on two complaints received.
State Police Chief, Datuk Seri Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri said that the two complaints each used false documents showing the signature of the Chief of Police of Perak and Perlis.
According to him, the first case involved no loss while the second case involved a loss of RM98,000.
“The first case involved a restaurant trader in Teluk Intan on June 14. He received a phone call claiming that there was a shipment of packages containing prohibited substances in his name.
“The caller also said he was involved in a drug and money laundering case and had a police arrest warrant.
“The victim then received an attendance notice with the police logo and the signature of the Perak Police Chief sent by a caller believed to be a scammer via WhatsApp,” he said in a statement.
However, the complainant was not fooled and made a police report.
Mohd Yusri said that on the same day, a lecturer at a university in Perak received a similar call from a party posing as the police.
According to him, the caller used the same modus operandi to send an attendance notice with the police logo and signed by the Perlis Police Chief.
“He claimed that the lecturer was involved in a case related to drug smuggling and money embezzlement amounting to RM2.8 million.
“The victim who was deceived then gave personal and bank information and suffered a loss of RM98,000,” he said.
In the same statement, Mohd Yusri informed that Perak police statistics show that the ‘phone scam’ syndicate is a major contributor to online fraud crimes.
He said, throughout the past year as many as 358 related cases have been reported with a loss of approximately RM15 million.
“For this year up to May, a total of 181 cases have been investigated involving losses of over RM8 million.
“We advise the public not to trust any dealings related to money and banking over the phone,” he said.
