5 Nigerians behind Love scam, e-shopping fraud nabbed in Puchong

KUALA LUMPUR: Five Nigerians suspected of involvement in a Love scam and e-commerce (online shopping) fraud were arrested in a raid at Taman Putra Perdana, Puchong here, on Tuesday.

Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department director Datuk Zainuddin Yaacob said the five Nigerians, comprising four men and a woman, were detained at two premises at the Ruvena Villa Apartments in the raid at between 9and 11am.

He said that based on an investigation, the syndicate members are believed to have entered Malaysia using student passes from a private institution; and their activities were carried out with housemates and assisted by friends abroad. The group targetted Malaysians and Thais.

"This syndicate was also actively looking for girlfriends from various countries who were willing to provide 'mule accounts' to be used for the purpose of cheating victims," he said in a statement yesterday.

Zainuddin believes that at least two cases involving the love scam and e-commerce fraud had been solved with the arrests of all the suspects, aged between 30 and 35.

He said police also seized four laptops, 15 mobile phones, two modems with routers, one passport and an automated teller machine (ATM) card.

He said they are being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code as well as Section 6 (1) (C) and Section 15 (1) (C) of the Immigration Act 1959/1963. - BERNAMA