Five Nigerian
students have been arrested and detained in Malaysia over their alleged
involvement in an internet fraud amounting to N125.2million (RM2.4 million) in
Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. The five students, aged between 20 and 30, and
pursuing Information Technology courses in a leading private college in Kuala
Lumpur, were arrested on June 30, 2015 at different areas in that country
including Petaling Jaya, Cyberjaya, Damansara and Kuala Lumpur.
Following the
arrest of the five students, police also detained the two local women, aged 40
and 55, who are the owners of the accounts used by the syndicate said Penang
Commercial Crimes chief ACP Azmi Adam.
ACP Azmi said
police also seized five laptops, 20 hand phones, ATM cards, SIM cards and
documents believed to have been used to con their victims.
He said police
launched ‘Ops Merpati’ after receiving a report from the owner of an ice
producing factory owner in George Town who claimed he had been cheated by the
syndicate. The 62-year-old victim said he had received an e-mail from the
syndicate in March, informing him that he was among 50 recipients selected to
receive RM15.9 million from the government of the United States.
“The e-mail
requested the victim to follow certain procedures to ensure he did not miss the
opportunity. Convinced by the contents of the e-mail, the victim carried out 51
transactions involving money, to accounts numbers given by the syndicate before
realising it was a scam. He later lodged a police report,” he said.
Azmi said initial
investigations revealed that the syndicate had conned several victims to a tune
of RM2.4 million. Police have also found transactions involving up to RM1
million that were banked in from a neighbouring country.