KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 31 — Two individuals were arrested on August 8 over suspicion of being the masterminds of an e-commerce fraud on Instagram, which caused losses of over RM153,759.

Without disclosing where the suspects were arrested, Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department director Datuk Mohd Kamarudin Md Din said the police detected the syndicate through the Instagram account "Beauty_Saranghae” and were currently investigating 64 cases linked to the alleged fraud.

He said based on investigations, the syndicate would advertise various electronic items at below-market prices.

"Interested buyers were instructed to make payments to the bank accounts given. However, after payment was made, the buyer would not receive the promised goods,” he said in a statement today.

Mohd Kamarudin said the two local suspects aged 32 and 53, were being remanded to facilitate investigations under Section 420 of the Penal Code for fraud.

Mohd Kamarudin also shared that 15,786 cases of fraudulent online/e-commerce sales involving losses totalling RM110 million from the beginning of 2019 till August 30 this year were being investigated.

He said of the total, 3,512 cases were recorded in 2019, involving losses of RM28 million, while 5,846 cases were recorded with losses of RM41 million last year.

For this year, till yesterday, a total of 6,428 cases have been recorded involving losses worth RM41 million.

Meanwhile, Mohd Kamarudin urged the public to be more careful when making purchases online.

"The public is also encouraged to verify bank accounts and phone numbers through http://ccid.rmp.gov.my/semakmule/ to identify if they have been used in previous fraud cases,” he added. — Bernama