Cyber fraud cases on the rise in Sarawak

KUCHING, May 28 (Bernama) -- Cyber fraud cases reported in Sarawak increased to 666 cases in the first three months of this year compared to 640 cases recorded in the same period last year.

Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Mohd Azman Ahmad Sapri today said middle class people, retirees, working women, the elite and students of higher learning institutions were among the victims of scam syndicates of such frauds like the Macau Scam, Love Scam and non-existent loans.

"The losses due to commercial crimes (in Sarawak) totalled RM17.8 million during the first three months of this year, while for the same period in 2021, it was RM15.3 million, which is an increase of RM2.5 million," he said when officiating the Sarawak Contingent Community Policing programme in Taman Malihah here.

In the wake of this increase, he advised people in the state to be wary of parties asking for bank account numbers or personal details of themselves or trying to offer free gifts to them through calls or phone messages.

"There's no need to entertain any information or phone messages that have nothing to do (with you). Nothing comes for free," he said.

Meanwhile, Mohd Azman said burglary and theft incidents reported in Sarawak showed a downward trend with 213 cases between January and March this year compared to 348 cases in the first three months of 2021.

He said although the number of such crimes had shown a decrease, he asked the public to continue to cooperate with the police to enable such crimes to be further reduced.

-- BERNAMA