WHEN it comes to stories of Macau scams, the news is almost always that Malaysians are the targets.
It was claimed recently that a group of Japanese men were arrested recently in Kuala Lumpur for being involved in a Macau scam targeting their own countrymen.
Is there any truth to this?
VERDICT:
TRUE
Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf confirmed this at a press conference on Monday (Nov 20), saying that seven Japanese men had been detained in connection with a Macau scam.
He said the suspects were nabbed in a raid on a residence in the city last week, adding that the department received information on the syndicate from the Japanese Embassy on Nov 13.
"The Embassy had initially received a report from a Japanese citizen who claimed to have been scammed," said Comm Ramli.
He added that the initial investigation revealed that the syndicate operated the scam using Skype to contact its Japanese victims.
Comm Ramli then said the syndicate would pose as bank officers and contact the victims, feigning a problem with their bank accounts.
The victim was then told to transfer funds to another account provided by the syndicate to solve the problem.
"The suspects have been remanded until Nov 19 before being held under the Immigration Act," he said.
Comm Ramli said that while the involvement of Japanese citizens in scams is rare, it shows the versatility of the syndicates in changing their tactics.
"We hope the public will be more vigilant about scam syndicates' attempts to dupe them," he said.
