Five Nigerians suspected of being involved in
love scam and e-commerce (online purchases) fraud have been arrested in a raid
at Taman Putra Perdana, Puchong in Malaysia.
Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation
Department director Datuk Zainuddin Yaacob said the five Nigerians, comprising
four men and a woman, were detained at two premises at the Ruvena Villa
Apartments in the raid between 9am and 11 am, Malaymail reports.
He said that based on the
investigation, the syndicate members are believed to have entered Malaysia
using a student pass from a private institution and the activity was carried
out with housemates and assisted by friends abroad by targeting locals and Thais
as victims.
“This syndicate was also actively looking for girlfriends from various
countries who are willing to provide a ‘mule account’ to be used for cheating
victims,” he said in a statement today.
Zainuddin believed that at least two cases involving love scams and e-commerce
fraud had been solved with the arrest of all the suspects, aged between 30 and
35.
He said police also seized four laptops, 15 mobile phones, two modems with
routers, one passport and an automated teller machine (ATM) card.
He said they are being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code as well
as Section 6 (1) (C) and Section 15 (1) (C) of the Immigration Act 1959/1963.
In a separate development, Zainuddin said that last year, a total of 6,337
e-commerce fraud cases involving losses worth RM43.5 million were recorded
while 1,697 love scam cases were reported, with losses amounting to RM64.33
million.
