A MAN detained for a RM500,000 pre-order scam involving 150 Sony PlayStation 5 (PS5) consoles is believed to have acted alone in the online business which he has been operating for two years.

Penang Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief, ACP Mohd Asmadi Yusoff said investigations revealed that the 23-year-old, who was detained in Penang on November 13, acted alone to con buyers into depositing the money for the consoles into his mother’s bank account.

”The duo (mother and son) actually run an online business. However, initial investigations found that the mother was unaware of a link with the PS5 consoles.

“The investigation also found that the man was conducting the online business for pre-orders of PS3 and PS4 game consoles over the past two years and also promoted the products on Facebook and Instagram, Mohd Asmadi told reporters after the Commercial Crime Prevention Campaign, today.

The seller had a company registered in his name and a check with the Companies Commission of Malaysia found the business registration certificate belonged to a 23-year-old man with a registered address in Penang.

Ismadi said the man is believed to have deceived individuals by building a reputation as a “trusted seller” and there were also some buyers who had received their orders and in turn recommended the seller.

He said the man is suspected of being linked to eight cases in Penang, involving purchases totalling RM28,000. The suspect is being remanded to assist in the investigation of a similar case in Kedah.

Meanwhile, in another development, Asmadi said fraud cases involving cybercrime in Penang rose 28.2% in the first 10 months of this year, involving losses of RM79 million compared to RM54.1 million for the same period last year.

Data also show an increase in such cases during the Covid-19 epidemic period in the country, he added. – Bernama, November 19, 2021.