MALAYSIAN police are investigating five cases involving digital currency, said Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun.

Fuzi didn’t reveal the losses incurred by victims or other details of the crime, but said police are enhancing their skills to tackle cyber crime and cases involving cryptocurrency.

“The Commercial Crime Department director Amar Singh Ishar Singh are sending his men on courses to enhance their skills in investigating cyber crimes.”

Amar Singh said police were working with Bank Negara on the cases.

“We also going on courses with Bank Negara to understand better how the crime works and to deal with it. It is a new type of crime,” said Amar.

He added so far, the cases reported involved hacking and cheating in the purchase of digital currency.

Cryptocurrencies are obtained by running complex algorithms through computers, and some people then trade these currencies to get real-world money. Such currencies have become popular in recent years and speculative trading in the past months has seen its value shoot up to as much as US$20,000 (RM78,000). The most popular of the digital currencies is bitcoin.

According to The Star, there are four crypto exchangers operating in Malaysia, including London-based Luno and Pinkexc.

A conservative estimate puts the average monthly trading turnover of bitcoin and other digital currencies in Malaysia at around RM75 milion. – February 26, 2018.