KUALA LUMPUR: A total 104,032 mule accounts were reported since 2015 involving an overall RM16.7 million in losses, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin.
He said the statistics were derived based on information from victims, of which 76,901 cases were reported to the Cyber Crime and Multimedia Investigation Division.
Following investigations, 29,124 people have been arrested and 18,660 charged.
"Police have been cooperating with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) through the establishment of technical and joint central committees.
"The technical committee was set up to discuss investigation issues, technical and inter-agencies support to address cybercrimes, while the police-MCMC central committee discusses issues involving policies or decision-making in regards to cybercrimes," he said in a parliamentary written reply to a question from Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham (PH-Beruas).
There was also cooperation between the police and telecommunication companies through WhatsApp called the 'Antispoofing Tech Team' that was responsible for acting against abuse of phone lines.
Hamzah said mule accounts were those used by syndicates when the account holders revealed their banking details in return for payments.
The accounts would be used for transactions in criminal activities, he said.
He said various methods were used by syndicates to open mule accounts, among others, renting the bank accounts from the holders, deceiving victims into giving banking details to obtain loans or make payments.
The syndicates were also able to use the victims' bank accounts for transactions after gaining their trust, while the latter remained unaware that they were being used for fraud, he added