logo
Father, son nabbed over fake ID shop

Father, son nabbed over fake ID shop

The Star22-05-2025

Busted: Wan Mohammed Saupee (second from left) showing the items seized during the press conference at KL Immigration headquarters.
KUALA LUMPUR: On the outside, it looked like an ordinary photography and watch shop in Chow Kit where people go in to get their photo taken for official documents.
But in reality, the shop was a one-stop centre for migrants and foreigners to get all manner of forged documents such as MyKad, MyKid, temporary work permits (PLKS), I-Kad and CIDB cards.
Run by a father and son, the shop has been operating since early this year and is believed to have attracted clients from even outside the Klang Valley.
Kuala Lumpur Immigration director Wan Mohammed Saupee Wan Yusoff said the centre was busted following an 'Ops Serkap' raid at about 7pm on May 20.
'The operation involved 15 officers who did a month of surveillance and intelligence gathering. We detained both men aged 60 and 34 in the raid.
'They have been forging documents and cards for foreigners and foreign worker agents. The foreigners are from various countries, including Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar,' he told a press conference at the KL Immigration headquarters yesterday.
The suspects would communicate with prospective customers via WhatsApp.
Customers would be asked to provide a passport photo and pay either in cash or through online methods.
'They charged customers between RM60 and RM140, depending on the complexity of the work,' said Wan Mohammed Saupee.
Among the items seized were fake I-Kad, 50 fake e-PLKS slips, forged MyKad and MyKid as well as a card printing machine, 100 blank cards, photocopy machines and mobile phones, and RM4,000 in cash.
'Their fake cards included chips and hologram stickers that seemed genuine. However, the chips would not contain any information when scanned,' he said.
On top of immigration offences, the suspects will be also investigated for money laundering.
'We are checking bank transactions of both suspects. We believe they garnered big profits from this operation,' he said.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Vigilant M'sians wising up to scams
Vigilant M'sians wising up to scams

The Sun

time5 days ago

  • The Sun

Vigilant M'sians wising up to scams

OH, Malaysia – land of nasi lemak, humid weather, and unfortunately, con artists who work harder than a kopitiam aunty during breakfast rush. If you have not received a call from 'PosLaju', 'Maybank' or a serious-sounding 'officer' from Bukit Aman threatening to freeze your MyKad – are you even Malaysian? Let us begin with the infamous 'police call' scam. You answer a lucky number and you are knee-deep in drama. 'Salam sir, ini Inspector Roslan dari Bukit Aman. Nama kamu terlibat dalam kes melibatkan sindiket dadah dan 17 akaun palsu di Sabah.' (Salam, sir. This is Inspector Roslan from Bukit Aman. Your name has been linked to a drug syndicate and 17 fake accounts in Sabah.) One minute you are waiting in line for roti canai and the next, you are apparently a criminal mastermind. On top of that, the scammers will generously offer to 'help clear your name' – for a small, totally-not-fishy bank transfer to a third-party account, of course. Then there is the 'PosLaju' version. They call and tell you that your package has been seized because it contains something illegal, like drugs or fake credit cards, and somehow your name is in the middle of it. You are wondering: 'I only bought baju kurung from Shopee, how did this spiral into a global crime?' Not to be outdone, the 'Macau scam' (not named for where it originated but for how flashy it is) is the most upscale of all cons. They mix police impersonation with bank warnings and even go so far as to claim to be Bank Negara officials. These fellows work together better than a kenduri caterer, and their condescension? Olympic standards. They talk so fast and earnestly that you start questioning yourself if you did unintentionally start a money laundering operation in your sleep. Romance scams have also found a ground in our tropical paradise. Some isolated aunty thinks she has met her soulmate on Facebook – maybe a gruff, widowed army medic supposedly trapped in Syria or an oil rig worker in the South China Sea who, oddly enough, types like he is using Google Translate. Before you know it, she has sent RM20,000 for visa fees, emergency flights or 'life-saving surgery'. And all this without even a single Zoom date. And who can forget the classic 'scratch and win' scams of the early 2000s? Some overly enthusiastic guy at the mall hands you a scratch card that declares you've 'won a car' – but first, of course, you have to fork out RM5,000 in 'processing fees'. Malaysians were led to believe they could be cruising around in a brand new Toyota Vios soon, only to walk away with a pressure cooker and deep regret for existing. The internet age has not left us lagging too. WhatsApp scams are going strong globally and right here at home. 'Hi mummy, I've lost my number. Please transfer RM3,000 to this account – I lost my phone.' You are frantic. Your child is stranded! But wait – your child is five years old. Can barely write, let alone use online banking. And, praise be to God for the fearless scammers now boldly masquerading as Maybank. You get a text: 'Your Maybank2u account is locked. Click this link to verify.' The link, of course, looks like it came straight out of a phishing-themed action movie: Even the grammar gives up halfway through. But the real cherry on top? Scammers pretending to be officers from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, accusing you of graft. Imagine-lah – you, still bargaining over 20 sen at the pasar malam, somehow laundering millions. Seriously, it would almost be flattering... if it weren't such a facepalm moment. And Malaysians God bless us –we are a polite lot. Even when we are suspicious, we still listen. We politely respond with 'hmm' and 'oh really?' through the entire scam call because we do not want to be impolite. Then we hang up and immediately tell our cousin: 'I think I kena scam just now.' But it is not all bad news. The tide, my friends, is turning! Malaysians are no longer so easily swayed by a sob story from a mysterious 'Syrian general' or promises of a free car (which, let's be honest, would probably be a Proton Saga from 1992 anyway). There is a growing wave of public vigilance so strong you can almost hear the collective 'tsks' of disappointment from scammers nationwide. Recent reports from the National Scam Response Centre – bless their diligent hearts – read like the beginning of a superhero origin story. In just the first three months of 2024, they reportedly recovered over RM20 million. That is enough to buy a small island – or at the very least, a lifetime supply of kuih muih. This just goes to show that quick action and a good old-fashioned dose of Malaysian skepticism can make a difference. Even our beloved police are getting in on the act, sharing scam warnings on social media like gossip at a pasar malam. They are dropping knowledge bombs on new scam tactics faster than a mamak can whip up a roti canai banjir. As a result, aunty now wisely calls her children before transferring money. Uncle and this makcik no longer answer unknown numbers. And the cats? Even they are wise – no longer trusting the postman when he claims he is delivering a package of tuna – they know it is probably just another bill. It is a beautiful sight to behold. Thus, my dear Malaysians, remain vigilant. If anyone tells you that you owe the LHDN money or that there is a package addressed to you with meth inside, take a deep breath, brew yourself a cup of teh tarik and repeat the following: if it sounds daft, it probably is. And if you suddenly 'win' a Perodua Myvi for doing absolutely nothing, just chuckle, delete the message and go win a real one from a petrol station lucky draw like the rest of us. Scamlah... not today. Azura Abas is the associate editor of theSun. Comments: letters@

Body of man, believed to have drowned, found in Sungai Pahang
Body of man, believed to have drowned, found in Sungai Pahang

New Straits Times

time29-05-2025

  • New Straits Times

Body of man, believed to have drowned, found in Sungai Pahang

MARAN: The body of a 58-year-old man, believed to have drowned, was found in Sungai Pahang near Kampung Paya Pasir, Pekan Awah, yesterday. Maran police chief Superintendent Wong Kim Wai said villagers alerted the police after spotting a body floating in the river at around 1.30pm. "The fully clothed body was seen floating face down in the water. It was found near a sand mining site, at a depth of 20m and about 30m from the riverbank. "The body was trapped among some debris and logs drifting in the river. Firemen helped retrieve the remains, and police later found the victim's wallet and MyKad in the pocket of his trousers," he said in a statement today. Wong said the body was sent to Jengka Hospital for a post-mortem, which confirmed that the cause of death was drowning. He said the victim's children had identified the body at the hospital, and police are gathering further information about the incident. Meanwhile, Pahang Fire and Rescue Department public relations officer Zulfadli Zakaria said six firemen from the Maran fire station were deployed to assist police in recovering the body. "The sandy terrain along the riverbank made it difficult for firemen to launch the aluminium boat into the water. However, they managed to reach the body and bring it to the riverbank," he said.

Forgers earn millions from fake passports, work passes
Forgers earn millions from fake passports, work passes

New Straits Times

time26-05-2025

  • New Straits Times

Forgers earn millions from fake passports, work passes

KUALA LUMPUR: Document forgery syndicates are believed to be earning millions of ringgit each year by producing fake passports and Temporary Employment Visit Passes (PLKS) for foreign job seekers in Malaysia. One such syndicate uncovered by the Immigration Department was reportedly charging between RM100 and RM150 per passport and capable of producing up to 100 fake passports a day. The syndicate was also found altering the biodata of undocumented foreigners to obtain approval from the Foreign Workers' Medical Examination Monitoring Agency (Fomema). Immigration Department director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban told Utusan Malaysia that certain syndicates were offering passports from specific countries to undocumented migrants using authentic passports with falsified biodata. This was done to facilitate the approval process for Fomema health screenings. Zakaria said these services were offered for around RM200 per case, including arrangements for the medical check-up at selected clinics. "There are syndicates offering forged passports specifically for Fomema purposes, charging RM100 to RM150 each. "These illegal activities are believed to produce 50 to 100 passports per day." he said. The syndicates were mainly forging passports from foreign worker source countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Indonesia. Zakaria said the syndicates typically used genuine passports belonging to other individuals, and altered the biodata and internal pages at a cost of RM1,000 to RM1,500 per passport. He said some syndicates would use the forged passport details to apply for Fomema approval, which involved an additional cost of RM600 to RM1,000 per document. "Most of these operations are based in business premises and condominiums to avoid detection and are equipped with printers to produce fake documents," he said. However, the number of passport forgery syndicates has decreased following Malaysia's shift towards digitalisation, including the adoption of e-passports and mobile passport readers. "The Immigration Department is now equipped with tools that help us determine whether a document is fake or genuine, so those with forged documents cannot escape scrutiny. "This is evident as only 27 arrests related to forged passes were made up to April this year, compared to 221 last year, while 57 arrests were recorded for fake passports in 2024."

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store