KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 — A total of 903 cases of non-existent loan fraud were reported as of April this year with losses over RM8 million.

Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department director Datuk Mohd Kamarudin Md Din said that based on police statistics, loan fraud continued to record a high number of cases every year.

"In 2019, a total of 5,039 cases were reported with losses of RM48.42 million and cases continued to increase to 5,718 cases with losses of RM62.39 million in 2020. In 2021, a total of 4,784 cases were reported involving losses of RM50.6 million," he said in a statement today.

He added that an analysis by the police found that the only way for the syndicate to get money from the victim was through an advance payment that was supposed to be paid by the victim before the loan was approved.

"Various tricks were used by the syndicate to obtain the advance payment, including legal fee, agreement fee, insurance fee, credit increase fee, CCRIS/CTOS fee, LHDN fee, account activation fee and so on," he said.

Mohd Kamarudin said this was unlike the money lending method practised by banking institutions or licensed money lending companies, in which any fees payable would be included as part of the loan amount.

"Therefore, any loan scheme that asks for an advance payment is a scam and members of the public are advised to be careful and not fall for the tricks of the loan fraud syndicates," he said.

The public can refer to the CCD Scam Response Centre at 03-26101559 or 03-26101599 for any advice or concerns related to commercial crime. — Bernama