Take your time to verify authenticity with authorities before parting with your money: Police

KUALA LUMPUR: If every person verifies their "calls" with the nearest police station or bank, the scammers would go out of business, says City police chief Commissioner Datuk Seri Mazlan Lazim.
"These scammers use several ways to fool victims. Please spend some time by calling the police or bank authorities before parting with your money," he told a press conference at City police headquarters here today.
His advice comes following the recent success where the Kuala Lumpur Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) busted a Macau scam syndicate run by locals, with the arrest of 14 suspects aged between 17 and 36 including an IT technician who is believed to be the mastermind.
"One of the suspects was wanted by the police for a murder case in Sungai Dua in Penang.
"As of now, 44 cases have been tied to the group, with victims' losses estimated at about RM3 million.
"The arrests of the suspects came after a restaurant manager fell prey to the same syndicate on March 13 where he ended up losing RM40,000," added Mazlan.
The 44 cases includes cases in the Klang Valley, Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Johor, Perlis, Kedah, Penang, Sabah and Perlis over the past year.
Police also seized paraphernalia, including 899 units of communication equipment and scripts in Mandarin and Bahasa Malaysia used in the scam.
The Macau scam modus operandi, known as spoofing, involves a technique where a caller will communicate using a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
He advised that the public always be aware of unknown numbers trying to contact them and not to fall for it.