PONTIAN: Pontian district recorded RM2.46mil losses from January to June 2026 involving 260 commercial crime cases.
Pontian OCPD Supt Hadzrat Hussien Mion Hussain said the cases involved phone scams, non-existent investments, non-existent loans, love scams, phishing scams, online purchases, illegal money lenders and criminal breach of trust.
"Based on the number of cases, phone scams took the top spot with 118 cases," he said in a statement.
This was followed by online purchases with 57 cases and 25 cases from non-existent investment schemes.
He said the phone scams resulted in RM1.07mil losses, while online purchases caused a RM216,465.98 loss to buyers.
Non-existent investment schemes accounted for RM85,495.66 in losses.
Hadzrat Hussien said other cases included phishing scams with 23 cases and RM122,051.21 in losses, followed by 17 cases of non-existent loans involving RM63,580.25.
There were seven other unspecified cases involving RM5,000, five love scams involving RM35,270 and two criminal breach of trust cases involving RM75,560.
"It is worrying as we see the number of cases on an upward trend from 233 cases recorded in 2025, against 260 cases for the corresponding period in 2026," he said.
Hadzrat Hussien said lack of financial and digital literacy, promises of high returns within a short period and impersonation of authority figures led to victims being scammed.
Other factors included failing to verify information via official channels, panic and being influenced by fake advertisements and testimonials on social media platforms.
"We had opened 260 investigation papers in the first six months of 2026," he said.
The cases are being investigated under Section 420 and Section 408 of the Penal Code, Section 4 of the Computer Crimes Act 1997 and Section 5(2) of the Moneylenders Act 1951.
Hadzrat Hussien said 92 individuals were arrested from January to June 2026 for their involvement in various commercial crimes in the district.
Out of those arrested, 67 individuals had been charged in court for their role as account mules.
He reminded the public to be alert and careful, especially in matters involving financial transactions when dealing with unknown persons.
The public can check credentials through the Semak Mule platform, contact the CCID Scam Response Centre at 03-2610 1599 or visit official police commercial crime social media pages.
Scam victims are advised to call the National Scam Response Centre at 997 to report their cases immediately.
