PETALING JAYA: The SemakMule portal has received 33.4 million visitors since it was established in 2020.
To protect their funds and savings, the public is encouraged to use the facility, set up by the police, to check and verify the list of mule bank accounts, telephone numbers and shell companies used by scammers.
Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said they initially set out to list phone numbers and mule bank accounts but have since improved the portal to include the names of shell companies.Speaking in an interview recently, he said visitors to the site are able to do searches on companies that might be used in commercial crimes including investment scams.
“The portal has listed more than 107 companies so far,” he noted.
As of Jan 21, a total of 238,006 bank accounts and 191,960 phone numbers are featured on SemakMule.
“The response from the public has been encouraging.
“We urge the people to make full use of the portal,” he added.
Comm Ramli said that just as the police will not relent in their enforcement efforts, the public, too, must play its part in staying vigilant.
He also advised the public to arm themselves with as much knowledge and information as possible before deciding to invest in any financial plan.
“On that note, we will step up efforts in conducting more scam prevention programmes and engagements with communities,” he said.
“We will also increase collaborations with other relevant agencies including the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM), Securities Commission (SC), and Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to curb investment scams, shell companies and advertisements by scammers on social media.”Comm Ramli also called on the SSM to tighten the process and procedure of registering companies, with the primary objective of enabling ease of doing business.
“As it is, the process is being used by scammers to quickly register any number of companies, hence the mushrooming of companies with seemingly legitimate investment entities,” he said
In addition to SemakMule, Comm Ramli also advised the people to check with other agencies such as the SC before embarking on any investment scheme.
“Don’t be tempted by any get-rich-quick scheme. It might cost you dearly in the end,” he said.
