KOTA KINABALU: A total of 86 people here have been made RM3.1 million poorer in cheating cases dubbed "Nigerian scams" since 2012.
District police chief Assistant Commissioner M. Chandra said the scams involved suspects using social media with fake identities to establish relationships with victims over the course of between three and six months.
"Many cases involve a romantic element, with suspects arriving in Malaysia to meet the victims. They then claim to have been detained by Immigration at the airport and require the victims’ help in securing money for their release,” he said during a press conference here.
"Another modus operandi involves suspects cajoling victims to bank in money for ‘appreciation gifts’.
Chandra added that investigations on the cases are ongoing and that they are working closely with police at the Federal Police headquarters in Bukit Aman.
To date, six people from here have also been arrested for opening bank accounts for another person.
He said the six cases were not necessarily related to the "Nigerian scam", but it is an offence to allow others to use one’s own personal account.
Meanwhile, Chandra also disclosed the solving of two burglary case involving cameras at Telipok near here.
The owner was approached by two illegal peddlers who tried to sell him his own stolen cameras which the sellers had allegedly purchased from the burglars.
On another case, police arrested eight locals, aged between 18 and 33, who are members of the Mingzhi gang implicated in the theft of 12 cars in the city.
However, police are still looking for two middlemen of the syndicate which sells spare parts and luxury cars here.