Phone scam: Police receive 54 reports on attempts to cheat public

SHAH ALAM: Police have received 54 reports related to attempts to cheat the public of money, believed to be masterminded by a syndicate masquerading as a policeman from a police station in Shah Alam.
Shah Alam police chief, ACP Shafien Mamat said 34 reports were received last month, while for this month, 20 reports had been received as of yesterday.
In all the reports, he said the victims claimed that they received a call from a man claiming to be a police officer on duty at Taman Sri Muda Police Station in Section 25 here.
He said the caller then told that the victims that they had several police cases, including being implicated in accident cases and court cases, and had to pay some money to settle the cases.
"I want to emphasise that it is not a police procedure to contact the public to resolve a case, and if anyone receives such a call it is advisable not to continue the conversation and immediately lodge a police report," Shafien told reporters after attending the Shah Alam police monthly assembly here today.
So far, he said they had yet to receive any reports of loss of money from victims who had received the phone calls.
Earlier, Shah Alam police headquarters received three wheelchairs from the 1Malaysia People's Welfare Association (KER1M) for the convenience of the public such as disabled persons, accident victims and senior citizens who needed to come to the IPD.
KER1M Public Relations Officer, Nur Shaqhiroh Hussin in a media statement said the presentation of the wheelchairs was an initiative of the association under the 1Malaysia Wheelchair Aid programme.
Nur Shaqhiroh said KER1M would also be implementing a Wheelchair Loan Programme whereby wheelchairs would be placed in government hospitals nationwide so patients who were really poor and unable to afford wheelchairs could borrow them for free.
"This is subject to non-serious cases and the loaning of the wheelchair is only for a short period, while special cases or appeals can be forwarded directly to the KER1M Office at Precinct 10, Putrajaya," she said. — Bernama