JOHOR BAHRU - Online shopping or e-commerce fraud has registered the highest number of fraud complaints involving losses of RM7.17 million from January to Sept 16, this year.
Johor police chief Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat said this type of crime accounted for 23.3 per cent of the total, with 2,079 cases of online fraud reported in the state, estimated to have resulted in losses of RM71.85 million.
"There are five categories of cases that are frequently reported, namely e-commerce (online purchases) with the highest number of cases at 485, followed by non-existent investments (382), phone scam (368), job offers (361) and non-existent loans (338)," he said in a statement today.
Elaborating further, Kamarul Zaman said out of the total of 2,079 online fraud cases, 478 cases have been reported to the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) for the purpose of freezing the bank accounts involved.
"If you have become a victim of fraud, contact the NSRC at the 997 hotline as an initial step to block the flow of money from the suspect's account.
"The public is urged to be more vigilant when dealing with online matters to avoid falling victim to fraud.
"First, check the suspect's phone lines and bank accounts through the 'semak mule' (mule-check) application provided online by the Commercial Crime Investigation Department," he said.