FEDERAL police have instructed police contingents nationwide not to give out details of detainees in lock-ups to any officer without approval from the station chief.

This comes after more than 10 families, whose particulars were given to bogus cops, were conned into believing they could get their loved ones released by paying between RM5,000 and RM10,000.

From March till October, a total of 11 cases were reported in Perak, Selangor, Johor and Negri Sembilan.

A police source told The Malaysian Insight that Selangor and Perak police are now working together to round up this gang following the recent arrests of a 40-year-old man and his 21-year-old female accomplice in the northern state.

“There has been a number of such cases in Selangor and Perak. We are working closely to identify the other suspects involved in this scam,” the police source told The Malaysian Insight.

According to reports, the suspects would call a police station, and in an authoritative voice, ask that the call be transferred to the station’s lock-up.

The caller would then identify himself as a senior police officer to the officer in charge of the lock-up.

The bogus officer would then question the lock-up officer on the number of detainees, their names, race and what they were being investigated for.

“All this while, the lock-up officer would be under the impression that he is speaking to a senior cop. So he would ask no questions,” the source said.

“Then the bogus cop will ask for the telephone numbers of the families of each detainee. And without hesitation, the lock-up officer will provide the details.”

The source said there were instances when the lock-up officer became suspicious and questioned the caller. In those cases, the caller would immediately hang up.

Police investigations later revealed that the suspects contacted several families and tricked them into paying a “police bail” of between RM5,000 and RM10,000 to secure the release of their loved ones.

Investigations also revealed that the money from the unsuspecting families was credited into several accounts. The account holders, mostly drug addicts, were paid between RM300 and RM400 for each transaction.

Police came to know of this scam after several families, who were conned into making the payment, turned up at police stations demanding that their loved ones be released.

However, another source told The Malaysian Insight that there could have been collaboration between the lock-up officer and the scammers.

The source said the lock-up officers involved in these cases should also be investigated as they are not “country bumpkins” to fall for such a scam.

He said the investigating officer in each case is empowered to give police bail the moment investigations are completed but even then, there are internal procedures set by their supervising officers.

This included informing the supervising officer and obtaining his approval. – October 16, 2018.