IN a slowing economy, gullible retirees looking to make a quick buck, the mentally handicapped, and drug users are those likely to allow their bank accounts to be used as “mules” for dubious money transactions, a top Bukit Aman investigator said. 

Acting Commercial Crime Department (CID) director Saiful Azly Kamaruddin said others who are easy targets for the syndicates are the unemployed, those on the bank blacklist, housewives, college students and social workers. 

He said fraudsters gained the victim’s confidence and access to the bank accounts by pretending to be a friend looking out for the victim.

Saiful said the Commercial Crime Department detected 145 mule accounts and arrested the owners, aged 19 to 63, in the three weeks after December 10 in a sting codenamed Ops Mule Account. 

Saiful said the individuals arrested were easy prey because they do not have a stable income and are  desperate to make money.

He said among the victims were those who had borrowed from moneylenders or from individuals they had befriended over the internet.

“They fall victim when they rent out their ATM cards to the syndicates to use ,” he said, adding some of the accounts also belonged to those who had inadvertently given away their banking information when they lost their wallets.

“Usually the account owners are paid between RM100 and RM300 to ‘lend’ their ATM cards and banking information. 

“Some are paid RM250 to RM550 if they sell their ATM cards to the syndicate,” he said. 

The syndicates will use their account to stash their money before transferring it to another account.

Saiful said the syndicates were involved in cybercrime, telephone fraud, Macau scam and bogus loans. 

He advised the public not to disclose their banking information to anyone to avoid falling victim to con artists.

Those who are found to have allowed their accounts to be used in a fraudulent manner, whether willingly or unwillingly, will be investigated under Section 411, Section 414, Section 424 of the Penal Code, Section 29(1) of the Minor Offences Act, and other banking laws. – January 23, 2019.