Selangor Police dealing with rising fake reports on people missing the ICs

SHAH ALAM - Selangor police have been dealing with increasing fraudulent reports of individuals claiming to have been robbed to avoid being penalised for losing their identification cards.

Selangor Police Chief Datuk Arjunaidi Mohamed has made the revelation following 45 fake police reports lodge in the state from the start of the year to Jan 18 alone, with such cases being on an upward trend for years.

Citing data from 2019, they were only eight fraudulent reports that were detected but in 2020 it has shot up to 60 cases, said Arjunaidi.

“The cases kept on increasing in 2021 with 217 cases and the past year and we have also detected 45 of such cases just 18 days into the year alone.

“This action can be classified as a serious crime and they thought they could get away with paying the penalty of the missing identity card after lodging fake reports,” he told Sinar Harian.

Arjunaidi added the police have taken stern action by charging these individuals under Section 182 of the Penal Code.

Arjunaidi then cited police data that they have prosecuted seven individuals in 2019 for the crime, with another 53 in 2020, 170 in 2021 and 16 individuals in 2022 alone.

He explained, if the individuals are proven guilty, they could be sentenced to six months jail or a fine of RM2,000 or both upon conviction.

"The upward trend of these cases is worrying as it also contributes to the crime index in Selangor.

"They claimed they were robbed along with their identity cards but in actually their cards were simply missing, just to avoid paying the penalty to the National Registration Department (JPN), '' he said.

Arjunaidi said those who have lost their identity card need to report it as missing and not make a fraudulent report as it will lead to legal action taken against them.

In Feb 2020, JPN chief director, Datuk Ruslin Jusof informed the public that they can be penalized up to RM100 if they lost their identity card for the first time, RM300 penalty for a second time and RM1,000 for the third time.

For missing cards, apart from being penalised, JPN will also conduct a thorough investigation within 90 days before a new MyCard can be issued.