Police: Any loan where you pay ‘an initial fee’ first is a scam

KUALA LUMPUR: Any loan that requires the borrower to pay an initial fee is a scam, according to the police.

Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Mohd Kamarudin Md Din said loan syndicates would dupe victims into parting with their money by imposing “an initial fee” before the so-called loan could be approved.

He said the scammers would come up with various excuses for the initial fee, to cover the cost of lawyers and insurance, among others.

“In actuality, such things are the opposite of processes in obtaining loans practised by legitimate financial institutions or licensed money lenders. Any processing fee is included as part of the total loan taken,” he said in a statement.

“We hope the public will be more careful to avoid being victims of loan scams,” he added.

Comm Kamarudin said a total of 5,039 loan scam cases were reported in 2019 resulting in RM48mil in losses.

“The cases increased to 5,718 in 2020 with RM62mil in losses. Last year, we recorded 4,784 cases involving RM50mil in losses while 903 cases have been reported so far this year resulting in RM8mil in losses,” he said.

He urged those with information or inquiries on commercial crimes to contact the CCID Scam Response Centre at 03-2610 1559/1599.

Meanwhile, on another matter, a 34-year-old man was detained for allegedly duping a woman of RM152,500 in a love scam.

Kuala Lumpur CCID chief Asst Comm Mohd Mahidisham Ishak said the 39-year-old victim lodged a report on April 9, claiming that the suspect had duped her of the money after promising to marry her.

“The victim got to know the suspect via social media. He promised to marry her but before the wedding could take place, the victim had to help him pay various personal debts,” he said.