MELAKA: Melaka police are hot on the heels of the most wanted Macau scammer in the state, the infamous, “Datuk Wazir” who has been known to impersonate senior police officers.
Melaka Commercial Crime chief Supt E. Sundra Rajan said his investigators are continuing to develop leads and information on Datuk Wazir who claimed to be an officer with the rank of Asst Comm from the Pahang police headquarters.
“This con artist had misused the name of the police force by manipulating his victims using a fake police identity and intimidating them, ” he said yesterday.
Supt Sundra said the fraudster had daringly deceived people by using the same modus operandi despite being on the top of the police wanted list.
“He (Datuk Wazir) has conned 14 victims since 2019 with accumulated losses totalling RM492,950, ” he said.
Supt Sundra said tracking this scammer is a priority for Melaka police as well as other types of cheating cases under the Macau scam category.
He said 357 individuals had fallen prey to such scams from 2019 up to Monday of this year in the state.
Supt Sundra noted that in 2019 there were 172 victims, 2020 (155) and 30 victims from Jan 1 to April 19,2021.
He said the accumulated losses during this period stood close to RM16mil.
Supt Sundra said police made 297 arrests on the scammers between 2019 to April 19 of this year.
“We have prosecuted 119 individuals between 2019 and April 19,2021, ” he said.
Supt Sundra said the most common tactic used by the scammers was accusing victims of being involved in criminal cases as well as failing to repay bank loans.
He said that they also convince victims that they are from government departments and agencies, through voice over Internet protocol.
“Hopefully, those receiving calls from any suspicious parties will first check the phone number and bank account number given by the conman at https://ccid.rmp.gov.my/semakmule/, ” he added.
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