Police cripple e-commerce fraud syndicate, 10 suspects held

KUALA LUMPUR: Police have smashed an e-commerce fraud syndicate with the arrest of six men and four women in raids around the Klang Valley, Perak, Kedah and Kelantan yesterday.

Bukit Aman Commercial CID director Datuk Mohd Kamarudin Md Din said the suspects were all locals aged between 21 and 52 and they comprised four bank account holders and the rest were internet protocol (IP) address owners used for the crime.

"Investigation found the modus operandi of the syndicate is to advertise goods on e-commerce platforms and contact interested buyers before being ordered to deal direct with the suspects, but the items promised were not delivered after payments have been made," he said in a statement today.

He added that police also recovered seven mobile phones, three laptops, 10 credit cards, three modems and one Bangladesh passport.

Police believed they have solved at least 28 other cases following the arrests, he said.

Mohd Kamarudin said 4.364 of e-commerce cheating cases were recorded from January 1 to June 20 this year.

In this regard, he advised the public to be careful and make purchases via reliable e-commerce platforms and customers could also check the telephone number and bank account involved at http://ccid.rmp.gov.my/semakmule

"Avoid dealing direct with the sellers especially if they were not familiar and did not reveal their identity," he said.

Members of the public can contact CCID Scam Resource Centre via 03-26101559 and 03-26101599 to get advice or channel information on online criminal cases.

-- BERNAMA