Johor Palace lodges report over scammers posing as TMJ

JOHOR BARU: Scammers are becoming bolder nowadays and are even posing as the royalty to cheat unsuspecting victims.

Johor deputy police chief Deputy Comm M. Kumar said that a report was lodged by the Johor Palace media at around 2.35pm on Tuesday (Feb 21).

“The report is about a screenshot of a direct message in Instagram, which uses a spoofed account called HRHCROWNPRINCEOFJOHOR.

“The screenshot shows the suspect, who claims to be Tunku Mahkota Johor Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim, asking for payment to carry out business,” he said in a statement on Tuesday (Feb 21) night.

DCP Kumar added that initial investigations showed that the suspect used a fake profile to communicate with potential victims to dupe them into thinking that they were communicating with Tunku Ismail.

“Messages have been sent to eight companies so far, and some have even transferred money to a bank account instructed by the suspect to get ‘projects’,” he added.

DCP Kumar urged those that have fallen victim to such tactics to come forward and lodge a report to allow police to carry out a thorough investigation.

He said the case was being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.