GEORGE TOWN: Cybercrime in Penang has increased more than fourfold at 441.7 per cent, mostly on online purchasing since Movement Control Order (MCO) was implemented in March.
Penang police commercial crimes department chief Assistant Commissioner Mohd Rosni Mohd Lazim said 130 cases were reported involving RM1 million losses until yesterday, compared to only 24 cases in the same period last year.
He said the increase was due to consumers turning to online purchasing for shopping due to the MCO.
"Majority of cases involve the purchasing of face masks and hand sanitisers. A total of 82 cases recorded losses up to RM800,000, as people were desperate to buy the products due to Covid-19.
"Most of them were created through social media such as Facebook and Instagram and they only realised it as the seller could not be contacted after they made payments," he said at a press conference today.
So far 13 people had been detained, and three of them already charged at court.
He said those detained were also involved in other cases in other states and were owners of the bank accounts to which payments were made.
Meanwhile, crimes involving Macau scams, impersonating authorities in Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) and Bank Negara Malaysia had increased by 65.3 per cent involving RM3.5 million.
Rosni said that 152 cases were reported throughout MCO compared to 92 cases during the same period last year.
"There are also reports of financial loan scams that recorded losses up to a million ringgit. This has increased significantly during MCO since people are financially affected due to loss of jobs and their earnings.
"People are easily influenced by loan advertisements on social media which offers easy and attractive repayment methods."
He urged the public to check the 'Semakmule' web portal and seller's status at http://biztrust.ssm.com.my.