KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 — Six African nationals believed to be involved in 10 ‘Romance Scam’ cheating cases amounting to RM1 million were detained at a house near here, yesterday.
A police team from Bukit Aman detained the six suspects, including a woman, aged 24 to 38, in Bandar Sri Damansara, Petaling Jaya during the 1am operation.
Bukit Aman Commercial CID Intelligence and Operations deputy director, SAC Roslan Abd Wahid said police also seized 12 cellphones, 15 ATM cards and a Toyota Camry car.
“Also seized were laptops which the suspects had used to find their victims and a pen-drive containing photos of their targets,” he said when contacted by Bernama here, today.
He said preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects have been involved in such activities for the past two years.
“They are believed to have used online sites such as Facebook, Tagged, Twitter and online dating sites to find and con their victims. The group would contact their identified victims and claim to be agents like bank officers to cheat them,” he said.
It is believed scammers create fake online profiles using photos of other people — even stolen pictures of real military personnel etc.
They profess their love quickly and tug at your heartstrings with made-up stories about how they need money — for emergencies, hospital bills, or travel.
According to Consumer Education Specialist (Federal Trade Commission), the scammers set up dating profiles to meet potential victims. After they form a “relationship,” they come up with reasons to ask their love interest to set up a new bank account.
The scammers transfer stolen money into the new account, and then tell their victims to wire the money out of the country. Victims think they’re just helping out their soulmate, never realising they’re aiding and abetting a crime.
Meanwhile, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar via his Twitter account today congratulated the team on their success. — Bernama
