Greed, quick-profit mentality fuel losses in scam cases, say cops

KOTA BHARU: Greed and the desire to make quick profits have been identified as among the main reasons many people in Kelantan fell victim to online investment scams, resulting in losses amounting to RM5.18 million in the first five months of this year.

Kelantan police chief Yusoff Mamat said online investment scams recorded the highest financial losses among all commercial crime categories in the state, with some victims losing more than RM1 million each.

He said victims often continued depositing money into fraudulent investment schemes after being lured by promises of lucrative returns, only realising they had been deceived after suffering losses amounting to hundreds of thousands of ringgit.

“Investment scams involve the highest losses. Some victims in Kelantan have lost more than RM1 million.

“Most continue making payments because they believe they will receive the promised returns, only realising they have been scammed after losing hundreds of thousands of ringgit or even more than RM1 million,” he told Bernama recently.

Yusoff said scam syndicates typically lure victims with promises of unrealistic returns that legitimate financial institutions would not be able to offer.

He urged the public to think rationally before committing to any investment, particularly those promising exceptionally high returns within a short period.

Meanwhile, commercial crime in Kelantan continued to show a worrying upward trend, with 1,219 investigation papers opened between January and May this year compared with 602 cases during the corresponding period last year.

The total losses for the same period rose from RM14.11 million to RM20.84 million, an increase of RM6.73 million, he said.

According to Yusoff, e-commerce scams recorded the highest number of cases at 401, compared with 141 during the same period last year.

However, online investment scams remained the category with the highest losses at RM5.18 million, up from RM3.87 million previously.

He said the commercial crime investigation department (CCID) had been instructed to intensify public awareness campaigns through radio, television and social media platforms to educate the public on scam syndicates’ modus operandi and ways to avoid becoming victims.