KUCHING: Police are requesting cooperation from all parties to make the public be more aware of the consequences of being a mule account holder.
Sarawak police commissioner Datuk Mohd Azman Ahmad Sapri said all parties, including non-governmental organisations, had been urged to cooperate with the police to conduct public awareness on such crime.
“They need to be aware that they cannot disguise themselves as victims when allowing their bank accounts to be used by others for criminal activities.
“Any individual or company who no longer has control over their bank accounts, is strongly advised to immediately close them to prevent the account from being used for illegal activities.”
He disclosed that the public could check the suspect’s phone number and bank account through Check Scammers Online or through http://semakmule.rmp.gov.my before making any financial transaction.
“To get the latest information on scam modus operandi, they can always visit the Facebook pages of the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID), Cyber Crime Alert Royal Malaysia Police and Sarawak CCID.”
Commissioner Azman added that the public could also contact the CCID scam response centre at 03-26101559/1599 or the CCID Infoline at 013-2111222.
“If anyone is a victim of cyber fraud such as Macau scam, love scam, e-commerce, non-existent loans and others, they can call the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) at 997, if they had just made a money transfer transaction to any mule account or scam syndicate.”
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) website, criminals recruit money mules to help launder proceeds derived from online scams and frauds or crimes like human trafficking and drug trafficking.
“Money mules add layers of distance between crime victims and criminals, which makes it harder for law enforcement to accurately trace money trails
“Some money mules know they are supporting criminal enterprises, others are unaware that they are helping criminals profit,” the US federal agency said.
