Internet Money | Police Nab Seven, Including Three Foreigners, For Fraudulent Internet Money Transfer

September 14, 2011 19:29 PM

Police Nab Seven, Including Three Foreigners, For Fraudulent Internet Money Transfer

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 14 (Bernama) -- The police have detained seven people, including three foreign men, in connection with fraudulently transfering RM250,000 through the internet recently.

The foreigners are from Sierra Leonne, Jordan and Pakistan. Of the remaining four suspects, three are local women.

The seven, aged between 20 and 27, were picked up at several locations in the Millenium Square, Petaling Jaya in a three-day operation, beginning Sept 10.

A computer, savings account books, subscriber identity module (SIM) cards, copies of identity cards and other relevant documents were seized from the suspects who were remanded until Thursday.

Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department director Datuk Syed Ismail Syed Azizan said Wednesday, the police opened an investigation paper early this year, after 12 cases involving losses totalling RM242,321.14, were reported.

He said initial investigations revealed that a syndicate had used special software to obtain a victim's internet banking information, including telephone number. He said this was done upon downloading information from a bank kiosk after the victim had carried out a transaction at the kiosk.

"Following this, a syndicate member impersonating a telecommunications personnel would telephone the victim to say that his line would be disrupted for a few hours for upgrading purposes.

"A local member of the syndicate, masquerading as the victim, would go to a branch of the telecommunications firm, with a forged police report and a copy of the victim's identity card, to cancel the said victim's SIM card and obtain a replacement."

Syed Ismail added that the new SIM card would be used to get the transaction authorisation code to perform the transfer transaction over the internet.

Further investigations revealed that the syndicate's last fraudulent transfer was on Aug 27, in Petaling Jaya, involving losses amounting to RM50,000, he said.

Syed Ismail said the procedure to replace SIM cards must be further tightened while internet banking security should be stepped up.

"Internet banking account holders must constantly inspect transactions on their accounts and avoid exposing internet banking information, whether through e-mail or telephone calls," he said.

-- BERNAMA

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