KUALA LUMPUR: Police have dismantled an online fraud syndicate that used fake Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) to send fraudulent SMS messages, following the arrest of four men in the Klang Valley.
Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said the suspects, aged 39 to 46, served as a supervisor, assistant supervisor, driver, and operator of the fake BTS devices.
The arrests followed a report from a 30-year-old man who received an SMS claiming to be from a telecommunications company, offering him points to redeem for goods.
“After entering his details via the provided link, the victim discovered that approximately RM1,500 was withdrawn from his account,“ Ramli stated during a press conference.
Also present was the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), deputy director of Management, Datuk Zulkarnain Mohd Yasin.
Investigations revealed that the syndicate operated out of vehicles equipped with fake BTS devices.
These vehicles were deployed in crowded areas, where automatic fraudulent SMS messages were sent to individuals within range.
“The SMS appears authentic, seemingly sent by an official telco provider, which misleads victims. They are then directed to a link and asked to provide sensitive details, including banking information and a One-Time Password (OTP),” Ramli explained.
He further disclosed that investigations have tied the syndicate to at least 12 cases, resulting in losses of RM116,271.
“With these arrests, we believe we have protected nearly 32,000 daily telco users nationwide from the risk of fraudulent SMS scams that could lead to financial losses,” he added.
Ramli confirmed that the four suspects are still being investigated under Section 4(1) of the Computer Crimes Act 1997.
Meanwhile, Zulkarnain highlighted that this marks the second known case involving the use of vehicles equipped with fake BTS devices to disseminate fraudulent SMS messages.
Such vehicles are capable of broadcasting messages within a radius of 500 metres to one kilometre.
He noted that the MCMC had issued a directive, effective May 3 this year, requiring service providers to omit links from SMS messages.
The case will also be investigated by MCMC under Sections 236(1)(a) and 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, as well as Regulations 16(1)(b) and 34(5)(c) of the Communications and Multimedia (Technical Standards) Regulations 2000.
