Police bust scam syndicate, three arrested

Under arrest: Canadian police have arrested two men and are seeking two others for exporting controlled goods and technologies intended for space satellite use to China in violation of export and defense laws.

IPOH: Police have successfully crippled a scam syndicate involving two Nigerian men and a local woman after they cheated a man here of RM21,800.

Ipoh OCPD Asst Comm Mohd Ali Tamby said police arrested the three suspects at 12.15pm on Wednesday (March 7) at a condominium in Cheras in Kuala Lumpur.

He said the victim had got to know the woman through Facebook, where she used the handle Sandra Wang and claimed to be from the United States.

"The woman told the victim that she would be coming to Singapore on Jan 12. However, on Jan 17, the victim received a phone call from the woman claiming that she had been detained at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport by a customs officer for carrying a lot of money," he said.

ACP Mohd Ali said the "customs officer" then instructed the victim through the phone to deposit RM21,800 into two different local bank accounts in exchange for the woman's release.

"He made the transactions right away. But soon after, he realised that he had been deceived. He lodged a report on Jan 20," ACP Mohd Ali said.

ACP Mohd Ali said the 25-year-old woman and two Nigerian men with no passports were detained during the raid on Wednesday.

Police also seized 25 handphones, three laptops, and several bank cards — all believed to have been used by the suspects to carry out their scam.

"We found that among the contact numbers registered to their phones, one in particular is connected to five police reports for cheating cases in Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Melaka," he said.

All the suspects will be remanded until Saturday (March 10) to assist in investigations under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.