Five Nigerian students have been arrested and detained in Malaysia over their alleged involvement in an internet fraud amounting to N125.2million
During a police raid termed ‘Ops Merpati’, Five Nigerian students pursuing Information Technology courses in a leading private college in Kuala Lumpur, 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.
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 syndicates. According to Penang Commercial Crimes chief ACP Azmi Adam, 5 laptops, 20 hand phones, ATM cards, SIM cards and documents believed to have been used to con their victims were recovered from the Nigerians.
The owner of an ice producing factory in George Town reported to the police that he had been cheated by the syndicates. The victim - a 62-year old man 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.