Over RM770mil lost to commercial crimes in Q1, says Bukit Aman

KUALA LUMPUR: The amount of losses to commercial crime nationwide has seen a significant spike of 87% to RM770mil within the first three months of the year, says Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf.

The Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director said there was actually an 8% decline in the number of cases as of Sunday (March 24) – 7,348 reports against 7,986 in the same period last year.

“However, the amount of losses has seen a significant increase.

“Between Jan 1 and March 24, a total of RM770mil in losses was recorded compared to RM407mil during the same period last year,” he said when contacted on Thursday (March 28).

A total of 3,785 cases were successfully prosecuted this year, enabling the department to achieve a 52% charging rate on commercial crime cases this year as of Sunday, Comm Ramli added.

“The prosecution rate this year showed an increase compared to 43% during the same period last year,” he said.

Comm Ramli said a total of 688 commercial crime cases were recorded in the most recent week, from March 18 to 24.

“Out of the total cases that week, ecommerce fraud made up the highest number, with 101 cases and losses reaching RM664,677,” he said.

The CCID analysis revealed that Telegram, Facebook and WhatsApp are often used by investment scam syndicates to target victims, Comm Ramli said.

“We urge the public to be wary and not easily believe investment offers being advertised online,” he said.

Meanwhile, on another matter, he said 4,131 suspects were detained for various commercial crime offences between Jan 1 and March 3.

“The majority of those detained were men, at 79%,” he said.

He added that 1% of the suspects were under 18; 36% were in the 19-30 age bracket; 30%, 31-40; 20%, 41-50; 8%, 51-60; and 5%, over 60.

“Most of those detained were mule account holders (75%), followed by suspected masterminds (7%) and scam operators (3%),” he said.