MCAC's Translation:
Kuching, 9th May 2013 — A press conference was held by YDH Dato’ Acryl Sani Bin Haji Abdullah Sani, Sarawak Police Commissioner, following a telephone scam syndicate that was being investigated and crippled by the Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Bureau with the assistance of the police forces of the Republic of China and Taiwan.
The telephone scam syndicate was called the “Macau Scam”. The scam ran its operations from two (2) separate premises (call centers) in Kuching. The scam involved a total of RM 4 billion worth, in transactions.
At the first premise, police arrested 55 Taiwanese – 34 men and 24 women; as well as a local man. At the second premise, police arrested 29 Chinese nationals – 16 men and 13 women.
During the arrest, police also confiscated 113 telephones, 11 laptops, 2 desktop computers, 11 computer hardware such as modems and routers, 12 mobile phones and several of other electronic products which allowed calls to be made through the internet from the ‘call centers’, which targeted China and Taiwan.
The modus operandi of the syndicate was that the first caller would pretend to be a police officer from either China or Taiwan. Victims were randomly called and informed that his or her banking accounts were being misused in dealings that were against the law and that the victim’s accounts were currently investigated by the countries’ respective Central Banks. The victim will feel fearful and anxious that the accounts will be frozen.
After that, a second caller pretending to be a Central Bank officer would call up the same victim and confirm that the victim’s accounts were being investigated. For safety, the victim was then instructed to transfer their money into a temporary account. The syndicate then pocketed the money that has been transferred.
The syndicate is believed to have been in operations since this year’s Chinese New Year. All those who were involved in the syndicate were foreigners. The victims were also foreigners.
Dato’ Acryl Sani explained that the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) extended help to the Police Force of the Republic of China and Taiwan in terms of technical and legal aspects. The Police from these two countries have also sent their officers to assist in the investigations.
Such scams have happened in Malaysia and on Malaysians as well. Therefore, Dato’ Acryl Sani reminds the public not to do any monetary transactions or transfers via phone calls and hope that everyone will not fall victim to scams.
Ref: FB Police Sarawak