KUALA LUMPUR: Police have arrested a 24-year-old man suspected of hacking and selling data belonging to a government agency on the dark web on Christmas day last year.
Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said that the man was apprehended in the capital city.
"Investigations revealed that the suspect was selling data on the website for USD200 (RM927) per set, with payments made in cryptocurrency," he said during a press conference here today.
Ramli said that the detection of the man was successful thanks to the efficiency of the Cryptocurrency Crime Investigation Unit, CCID Bukit Aman.
"The man was released on police bail on December 29 while the investigation is completed. The case is being investigated under Section 4(1) of the Computer Crimes Act 1997," he added.
In a separate development, Ramli said that the SemakMULE portal, developed in 2018, won second place in the Prime Public Sector Innovation Award (AlPSA) 2023 organised by the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU).
"This success is a recognition for the Royal Malaysia Police, especially in terms of delivering public services for the well-being of the people," he said.
Ramli explained that the portal was developed with the aim of providing direct access to the public to check bank accounts and phone numbers that might be used by scammers. "To date, a total of 160,095 bank accounts and phone numbers have been listed on this portal.
"Since its opening until now, the SemakMULE portal has been visited 24,257,824 times, with a total of 21,215,287 searches made," he said.
Further commenting, Ramli mentioned that out of these searches, 1,575,219 searches provided positive answers.
"We believe that this feedback has helped users and saved their money from being transferred to scammer accounts.
"The public is advised to continue using this facility to avoid losses due to falling victim to scammers," he said.