A TOTAL of 71,833 commercial crime cases were reported from 2020 to last month, involving losses amounting to RM5.2 billion. 

Inspector-General of Police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said of the total, 48,850 cases, or 68% involved online fraud. 

He said in the same period, a total of 26,213 cases were prosecuted in court.

“We need to pay attention to this large number of cases to ensure the public will not fall victim to online crimes.

“Campaigns should be held for all quarters to be updated on the modus operandi of scammers and provide awareness, especially to corporate companies, senior citizens, civil servants and retirees,” he told reporters after launching the 2022 Royal Malaysia Police Anti-Scam Campaign in Johor Baru today.

According to him, e-commerce purchase fraud cases recorded an increase from 8,851 cases in 2020 to 9,569 last year, while as of last month, a total of 3,833 cases were recorded.

As for love scams, Acryl said there was a decrease in cases, with 1,580 in 2020 and 1,460 last year, while 361 cases were registered from January to May this year.

“As for Macau scams, a total of 2,254 cases were recorded in 2020, after which it dropped to 1,586 last year and increased again to 1,612 as of May,” he said.

He said the widespread use of the internet among the community and economic sectors since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic had left many vulnerable to scams.

He said one of the challenges faced by the police was to conduct investigations as many were ashamed to lodge a report for fear of being identified as victims of fraud. – Bernama, June 25, 2022.