MIRI, March 17 — The Sarawak police have recorded 34 cases of non-existent loan frauds resulting in losses of RM244,495.04 from January to March 15, this year.

State Commercial CID chief Supt Mustafa Kamal Gani Abdullah said police were still conducting intelligence to attack and eradicate the non-existent loan syndicates this year.

‘‘The two latest cases took place in Miri involving a nurse and an offshore oil platform worker involving losses of RM5,560,’’ he said in a statement today.

He said the first case took place last Friday involving a 32-year-old nurse who received a short messaging service message from an unknown individual offering a cash loan.

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‘‘The suspect claimed to be from a finance company and offered her a loan of RM20,000,’’ he said, adding that the suspect asked for a picture of the victim’s Mykad, salary statement and an alleged RM2,160 Takaful insurance premium payment.

‘‘The victim made the payment yesterday (March 16, 2019) and lodged a police report after realising that the loan was a fraud,’’ he said.

He said, in the second case, a 43-year-old offshore oil platform worker was contacted by a woman yesterday also offering a cash loan.

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‘‘The victim said he was keen to borrow RM15,000 and the woman told him to bank in RM400 into her account for loan approval. On the same day, a man telephoned him for RM3,000 to cover loan insurance. He made the payment and later lodged a police report after realising that he had been cheated,’’ he said.

The Sarawak Police had recorded 220 non-existent loan cases with losses of over RM1.5 million last year and arrested 39 people, Mustafa added. — Bernama