BY GABRIEL LIHAN AND ALVERDTEKOSTER ANYAP
KUCHING: Six suspects have been arrested after police took down six mule accounts used by a syndicate to blackmail unsuspecting social media users.
Deputy Police Commissioner Datuk Mancha Ata said four cases have been solved with their arrest under Ops Bugil.
‘’Police are now on the lookout for the mastermind of the syndicate,’’ he said here today.
Two of the six suspects are locals with criminal records for drug possession.
According to Mancha the suspects aged 18 to 47 had used social media platforms such as MiChat, Facebook, WeChat and Whatsapp to scam and blackmail victims
“The syndicate’s modus operandi entail these suspects contacting the victims through social media, disguising themselves as sexy women and displaying explicit acts to lure their targets.
“At the same time, victims are tricked into performing these acts but the calls are recorded without their knowledge.
“The threatened victims are then asked to pay a specific amount of money to a third party account which is used by the syndicate,” he explained.
He said police had received 29 reports amounting to a loss of RM114,730 in 2021.
“Six cases were reported this year which amounted to a total loss of RM22,200.”
Towards this end Mancha urged the public to be mindful and cautious when meeting individuals on social media and not be easily lured into meeting girls online.
He also reminded the public not to give their bank details to unknown parties.
