Higher education students being scammed to provide mule accounts - IGP

SHAH ALAM - Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said police believe higher education students are being scammed by online syndicates into providing their account numbers for use as mule accounts.

"We believe these students were scammed; they did not intentionally provide their account numbers to the syndicates.

"They did not understand that their accounts were being used as mules,” he said, commenting on a report that there are 208,000 mule accounts nationwide, a portion of it belonging to students.

He was speaking at a press conference following the Graduation Parade and Certificate Presentation ceremony for the 2024 Ninth intake of Volunteer Reserve Police Inspectors (SUKSIS) at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) today.

Yesterday, Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department director, Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf, revealed that approximately 208,000 mule accounts have been identified nationwide.

He noted that a review by the authorities discovered that a number of these accounts belonged to students.

Previously, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail reported that police have detected cases where higher education students have allowed online fraud syndicates to use their bank accounts.

In a separate development, Razarudin announced that the investigation into the drug smuggling attempt at Tapah Prison using a drone last Friday is still ongoing.

He said no arrests have been made yet, but several individuals have been called in for questioning.

On Aug 9, authorities intercepted an attempt to smuggle suspected drugs into Tapah Prison via a drone after a prison staff member discovered a bag suspended from a white drone on the roof of one of the blocks.

According to the police, the bag contained a plastic package with three packets of white powder, weighing 122 gms, believed to be heroin, and 12.9 gms of crystalline substances, believed to be methamphetamine. - BERNAMA