MIRI, Jan 12 — The Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) here successfully busted two scam syndicates involved in recruiting the public as account mules and impersonating authorities in two separate operations conducted around the city.
District police chief ACP Alexson Naga Chabu said that during the operations, the raiding team arrested 11 individuals, including a woman, to facilitate the police investigation.
“In the first case, on January 8, 2025 at around 12pm, a team of personnel from the CCID Miri arrested two local men aged 34 and 46 at Boulevard commercial centre for allegedly recruiting the public as account mules.
“During the operation, the raiding team seized a car, seven mobile phones of various brands, 44 automated teller machine (ATM) cards from various banks, 29 Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards from different telecommunication companies, two sling bags, cash amounting to RM32, as well as a notebook containing bank account numbers,” he told a press conference at the district police headquarters here today.
Alexson said that in the second operation conducted at around 3pm on January 10, the police arrested nine individuals, including a woman aged between 25 and 40, at a house in Taman Bayshore here.
“The raiding team seized 20 mobile phones, two computers, an adapter, computer cables, two laptops, seven sets of documents containing victims’ information, a script used by suspects posing as police officers and National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) personnel, three notebooks, an iPad, a tablet, and two passports belonging to the suspects.”
Alexson said that initial investigations revealed that this syndicate had been operating since November 2024 and was involved in online scams by impersonating police officers and NSRC personnel.
“The suspects were recruited through Facebook, offered jobs as operators with a salary of RM2,000 and flight tickets provided to the work location.
“They were also given scripts to memorise and trained on how to trick and scam their victims,” he said.
Alexson said the estimated value of items seized in the first and second operations is RM40,000 and RM30,000, respectively.
“All suspects are currently being detained under Section 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) to facilitate police investigations.
“Both cases are being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating and Section 120B for criminal conspiracy.”
Alexson urged those with information related to these syndicates to contact the investigating officers Insp Shoban Rajendran at 016-4260592, Insp Tasman Hukman at 014-8618690, or the Miri District Police Headquarters at 085-432533.
Also present at the press conference was Miri CCID head ASP Zulkipli Baijuri. — The Borneo Post
