KUCHING: Sarawak police recorded 273 scam cases involving non-existent loans that incurred losses exceeding RM2.29 million, from Jan 1 to Nov 22.
Sarawak CCID chief Supt Maria Rasid explained that this year’s cases increased by 68 cases compared to last year.
From Jan 1 to Nov 22 last year, CCID recorded 205 scam cases.
“Recently, we recorded two new scam cases on Nov 17 and 22 respectively involving a 26-year-old contractor and a 27-year-old trader.”
Supt Maria said the first case happened in Sri Aman on Nov 17, in which a contractor was interested in getting a RM80,000-loan advertised on Facebook.
“The victim dealt with a man via WhatsApp known only as Robert. He was asked to make several payments amounting to RM5,940 to two bank accounts for insurance and loan processing.
“The victim became suspicious and realised he had been cheated after being asked for additional payments when the loan was not received.”
Meanwhile, the second case happened in Lundu on Nov 22, involving a trader who saw a loan advertisement, also on Facebook, and decided to get a RM2,000-loan.
The victim dealt with a representative of the advertised company and was instructed to make payments amounting to RM1,300 for loan approval.
The victim also realised he was cheated when asked to make additional payments.
Supt Maria urged the public to be extra careful and not be tricked into getting loans, especially those offered on social media such as Facebook, WeChat, WhatsApp and others.
She explained that any money lending advertisements made by a licensed money lender over the Internet must have an advertisement permit from the Divisional Resident’s Office in Sarawak.
“If such loan advertisement is made through the Internet, it must contain the community credit logo, name of the money lending company, address and telephone number of the money lending premises as well as the licence number issued by the Divisional Resident Office.
“If you have any doubts or may have been deceived, channel the information via text or WhatsApp to the CCID Infoline at 013-2111222.
“The public can also visit the official portal of the Royal Malaysian Police (rmp.gov.my), CCID (ccid.rmp.gov.my) and Sarawak CCID Facebook page to get the latest information and advice on such financial fraud,” Supt Maria advised.
