ALOR SETAR, Jan 30 — About 25,000 investigation papers involving commercial crimes have been opened nationwide involving losses amounting to RM6.2 billion from January to December last year.

Bukit Aman Commercial Crimes Investigation Department (CCID) director Datuk Seri Mohd Zakaria Ahmad said during the same period, 15,000 individuals involved in these criminal activities were also detained.

"Of the total commercial crimes recorded, 65 per cent involved fraud scams including non-existent loan cases, Macau Scam, Love Scam and African Scam which use the internet as a medium to find victims.

"Criminals committing these commercial crimes do not really need much energy or time as they only need the internet and mobile phones. They just try their luck, out of 10 people they pursue, one will bite the bait,” he told reporters here today.

Earlier, he presented the Pingat Jasa Pahlawan Negara (PJPN) Series 1/2020 to 396 recipients at the Kedah police contingent headquarters (GPA) attended by Kedah deputy police chief Datuk Muhammad Azlee Abdullah.

Mohd Zakaria also urged the public to be more vigilant and to check with the relevant authorities or agencies if they received a suspicious call or text message (SMS) to avoid suffering losses.

"People should not give their personal account numbers and do some checking before making any transactions. These days, the transaction process is very simple as everything is done online.

"Despite having carried out several awareness campaigns regarding scams, many have been duped, including the educated and professionals,” he said.

He said the public could ask or submit complaints regarding scams or commercial crimes through the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) social media site or come directly to the nearest police station. — Bernama