THREE AFRICANS, TWO LOCAL WOMEN ARRESTED FOR FRAUD

KUALA TERENGGANU (Malaysia), Nov 18 (Bernama) -- Terengganu police arrested
three Africans and two local women two weeks ago for suspected involvement in a
scam through the Internet.

Terengganu police chief Mohd Shukri Dahlan said the case was the first to be
detected in Terengganu and to date, seven people had fallen for the scam
causing losses amounting to RM146,111 (US$43,356).

"Prior to this, most of the fraud cases were reported outside of Terengganu,
but for the past one month we found that the scam had spread to this state," he
told reporters here Tuesday.

He said the three African nationals arrested, including a woman, were aged
between 30 and 40 years.

"Most of the victims are government servants, with some cheated of tens of
thousands of ringgit."

Mohd Shukri said the case was being investigated under Section 420 of the
Penal Code for cheating.

He said also detected in the state were cheating cases via SMS where 21
cases were reported in the last two months involving losses of RM134,244
(US$3,989).

He said the irresponsible party had sent SMS messages saying the victims
had won prizes and they were requested to send an amount of money to get
the items.

However, when the time came, the promised goods failed to arrive and the
the victims realised they had been cheated.

Mohd Syukri advised the public not to fall easily for such offers so that
they would not get cheated.
-- BERNAMA