JOHOR BARU: Scammers are deploying a new tactic to target their former victims by posing as "recovery agents" who can help get back the money lost in scams.
This shift comes as the pool of gullible victims gets smaller due to robust enforcement and widespread awareness campaigns.
People are becoming more savvy in watching out for scams thanks to numerous platforms to check against fraudulent activities.
Fraudsters, who may be members of a scam syndicate, are now turning their attention back to previous victims whom they believe are more likely to fall for a second time.
Federal police Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf acknowledged that there was a significant uptick in cases where victims, who previously fell prey to scams, are being contacted again by the very criminals who defrauded them.
Scammers might pose as recovery agencies or law enforcement representatives, promising to help victims recover or recoup their lost funds, only to cheat them out of more money.
The New Straits Times recently reported that a 56-year-old retiree had lost about RM620,000 to a scammer who offered a "solution" to recover her lost foreign exchange (forex) "investment".
The woman lost an undisclosed amount to a scheme in 2020, which turned out to be a scam.
However, a man contacted her in February this year and provided her with detailed information about her lost investment.
He apparently had precise knowledge of her dealings, such as online bank transfers and other details that were known only to the scammer or police.
When the man — who was described by the victim as a foreigner claiming to represent a Cyprus-based security company — said he could assist her to recover her funds, she fell for the ruse.
The scammer told her that there was a fee charged by the company for their services.
He said she could avoid paying the fee by investing in a cryptocurrency scheme promising up to 50 per cent returns based on her investment.
She was hooked by the offer because she thought she was desperate to recoup her losses and earn some profits.
She made 28 online transfers in four months to seven bank accounts, only to lose RM619,390.80 to what was believed to be the same scam syndicate that defrauded her in 2020.
Ramli said the new wave of fraud exploited the emotional and financial desperation of previous victims.
Scammers were playing on the victims' hopes of recovering their lost funds. The victims were cheated again under the ruse of paying administrative fees, or enticed to join other fraudulent investments.
"We realised this trend in our investigations, the retiree's case is not an isolated incident," he said yesterday.
However, police said they did not have the statistics as they were currently investigating the new modus operandi.
All state police headquarters were required to send reports of such cases to Bukit Aman so that the scammers' operations could be identified.
Ramli said initial investigations revealed that the pool of potential victims is getting smaller. Numerous platforms are available for the public to check against scams and fraudulent activities.
"These platforms have created awareness for people to check the legitimacy of investment sites.
"With the intelligence gathered, police have raided numerous scam call centres and many alleged culprits were arrested.
"People are becoming aware and enforcement is showing results. However, fraudsters are constantly changing their tactics to exploit loopholes in current prevention measures.
"Targeting past victims is among them... having their details of the previous incident will definitely play on the victim's psyche, inducing them to accept their new scams as legitimate efforts to assist in recovering the lost funds," he said.
Ramli added that the scammers' use of phrases like "security company", "overseas based" and "bureau of fraud investigations" also had significant impact on the victims' minds.
He said the integration of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, and augmented reality (AR) had complicated efforts to combat online crimes.
These technologies could be used by criminals to develop a sophisticated and harder-to-detect methods of scams.
Ramli said Bukit Aman had recorded a significant increase in the number of cases and financial losses reported.
Online fraud cases in the country had doubled from 17,668 cases in 2019 to 34,495 last year, recording an alarming 95.2 per cent increase within five years.