THE KL CRIME THE KL CRIME

Police Monitoring 11 Street Crime ‘Hot Spots’

BY CHARLES RAMENDRAN, ALYAA ALHADRI & HEMANANTHINI SIVANANDAMnewsdesk@theklcrime.com

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 7 City police have begun mobilising its per-

sonnel to realise the government’s target of reducing street crimes by 20 per cent by the end of next year. Its police deputy chief, Datuk Abu Samah Mat, said the police had identified 11 ‘hot spots’ which were favourite haunst of criminals. The hotspots are the Bukit Bin-tang and Jalan Pudu areas, which are under the jurisdiction of the Dang Wangi police; Brickfields and Kuchai Park (Brickfields po-lice) Taman Midah, Taman Con-naught, Alam Damai (Cheras), and Jinjang North, Metro Prima Kepong, Danau Kota (Sentul). He said the move was neces-sary to reduce street crimes such

as snatch thefts, unarmed rob-beries and unarmed gang rob-beries. “We have started a joint operation in Bandar Sri Per-maisuri, Cheras, from July 17. “The operation clearly has a posi-tive impact as the rate of street crimes at the area have lessened, as compared to before,” he said, add-ing that eight snatch thefts were reported in Bandar Sri Permaisuri as compared to 10 cases in the two weeks before the operation. As the police are under-staffed, Abu Samah said it had to enlist the help of the Peo-ple’s Volunteer Corps (Rela). On July 27, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced that the government viewed crime prevention seriously and was fo-cusing on efforts to reduce crime as one of the National Key Results Area under the home ministry.

TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 4,2012 TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 4,2012>>01 >>02

NAYATI IS HOMEWe are delighted to tell you that Nayati is back home with us and although it has obviously been a very traumatic time for him he appears at this stage to be in good shape. We cannot begin to say how proud we are of him and the way that he has coped with the events of the past week.We have been overwhelmed by the sup-port we have received from all our friends here in Kuala Lumpur and all over the world. We are unable to find the words to express our gratitude but we will never forget what they did for us.Even more s u r p r i s i n g , because it was so unex-pected, has been the sup-port of peo-ple whom we have never met - and are never like-ly to meet – in coun-tries as far away as Zambia and the USA, who have offered their time, skills and, in many cases, money, without any ex-pectation of any form of compensa-tion. We are so grateful for their help.We also appreciate very much the tremen-dous practical and moral support we have received from the Netherlands Embassy and in particular the Ambassador, Mr Paul Bek-kers. With his help we were able to surmount some “interesting” technical problems.Finally we would like to express our grati-tude to the Government of Malaysia, spe-cifically the Royal Malaysian Police. Their number one priority from the start has been the safe return of Nayati and they have been most careful not to do any-thing that might have jeopardised his safe-ty. We have enjoyed and will continue to enjoy our stay in this wonderful country.As we are sure you will understand, Nay-ati’s kidnapping is the subject of an on-going investigation so we are unfortu-nately not at liberty to reveal any of the details of the case at this stage.There will be a press confer-ence on Friday. Details to follow.Thank you.Moodliar FamilyThe Malaysia Star newspaper is reporting on-line that according to a police source, a ran-som was paid in return for Nayati’s release: The sources added that Nayati was released safely and unharmed at a rest and recreation stop along the North South Expressway near Rawang at around 7.30am on Thursday.”

>>19 October 2006, her cousin lodged a police

report and sought help from the

Mongolian embas-sy in Bangkok.

BY LINDA HAMZAHnews@theklcrime.com

>>Kuala Lumpur

Altantuyaa was born in 1978.

Her parents raised her and her sister while they worked in Russia where Altantuyaa start-ed first grade el-ementary school. She was reportedly fluent in Mongo-lian, Russian, Chi-nese, English, and some French.[1].Altantuyaa moved back to Mongo-lia in 1990 and a few years lat sing-er, Maadai. They had a child in 1996 but the marriage ended in divorce and the child went to live with Altan-tuyaa’s parents.Despite training as a teacher, Altan-tuyaa briefly moved to France where she attended modeling school before re-turning to MongoliaRelations to Razak BagindaShe was allegedly introduced to Ab-dul Razak Baginda, a defense analyst from the Malaysian Strategic Research Centre think-tank, at an international

diamond conven-tion in Hong Kong by Malaysian Dep-uty Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak, and had a relation-ship with him.[4] She accompanied Abdul Razak to Paris where she worked as transla-tor during his ne-gotiations to pur-chase submarines from France for the Malaysian gov-ernment.[5] Hong Kong website Asian Sentinel revealed in a series of pho-tographs that Alt-antuya was France in which during that time the two quickly became romantically in-volved. [6] [7] She reportedly became his mistress in Paris in 2005.

The commission was credited into the accounts of a company con-trolled by Razak, Perimekar. Subse-quently, Altantuya, accompanied by her cousin, went to Kuala Lumpur to ask for the portion of the commission due to her (alleg-edly US$500,000).MurderWhen it was real-ized she was miss-ing on 19 October 2006, her cousin lodged a police report and sought help from the Mon-golian embassy in Bangkok.

The Malaysian

police found frag-ments of bone, later verified as hers, in forested land near the Sub-ang Dam in Puncak Alam, Shah Alam. Police investiga-tion of her remains revealed that she was shot twice be-fore C-4 explosives were used on her remains, although there has been lat-er suggestion that the C-4 explosives may have killed her. When her remains were found their identity could only be confirmed with DNA testing. The provenance of the C-4 remains un-clearTrialAccording to court testimony by Altan-tuya’s cousin Bur-maa Oyunchimeg, Altantuya had shown Burmaa a photo-graph of 3 persons taking a meal to-gether: Altantuyaa, Razak Baginda, and a government official. When questioned by the lawyer of the victim’s fam-ily, Karpal Singh, Burmaa identi-fied the official as then Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.On 22 July 2008 Karpal Singh, who also holds a watching brief for the victim’s fam-ily, filed a notice of motion to call 4 new witnesses, in-cluding Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, to testify in the trial, as well as sought to recall the first prosecution wit-ness in the trial, private detective P. Balasubramaniam, for further exami-nation.[13] Ac-cording to Karpal, Najib’s testimony

-THE KL CRIME-

-THE KL CRIME-

>“We have started a joint operation in Bandar Sri Permaisuri, Cheras, from July 17

Murder of Shaaribugin Altantuyaa

Sharibu Attantuya fatherSharibu Attantuya father Attantuya Sharibu Attantuya CousinRazak Baginda

would be able to intro-duce fresh evidence to the case, and his re-quests were justifiable as per Section 425 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) which al-lows a court to “sum-mon or recall any person as a witness in a trial”, as well as “summon or recall any such person if his evidence appears to the court to be essen-tial to the just decision of the case.”[14] On 23 July 2008 the petition notice was rejected by the High Court. High Court judge Mohd Zaki stated that “only the parties involved, namely the prosecution and the defense” had a right to submit the petition.VerdictOn the 9 April 2009, High Court Judge Zaki Yasin ruled that Sirul Azhar and Azilah state-ments were unbelievable as both of the accused only blamed each other. Both policemen were sentenced to death for the murder of Altantuya. Wrapping up the 159 day trial, Zaki said both of them failed to raise any reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s case. How-ever, their lawyers will lodge an appeal. Both policemen showed end-ing.Shariibuu Setev’s lawyers have applied for a review the Attornagainst Ab-dul Razak, Azilah, Sirul Azhar and Government of Malaysia for damages over Altantuya’s death.

“The sources said the kidnappers contacted the family shortly after he was grabbed by two men in a black car and later demanded for

a ransom for his safe release. They said after several attempts at negotiations, the kidnappers finally agreed on a substantial ransom amount which was paid to the kidnappers Thursday

morning.

-THE KL CRIME-

THE KL CRIME TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 4,2012>>03

Accused in Sosilawati case ordered to enter defence

SHAH ALAM, April 30 The High Court today ordered former lawyer N. Path-manabhan and his three farm workers to enter their de-fence on charg-es of murder-ing cosmetics millionairess Datuk Sosila-wati Lawiya and three other individuals two years ago. Judge Datuk Akhtar Tahir an-nounced the decision after concluding that the prosecution had successfully established a prima facie case against the four accused. Pathmanabhan and the farm workers, T. Thilaiyalagan, R. Matan and R. Khatavarayan are charged with the murder of Sosilawati, 47, bank officer Noorhisham Mohamad, 38, lawyer Ahmad Kamil Abdul Ka-rim, 32 and Sosilawati’s driver, Kamaruddin Shamsuddin, 44. Pathmanabhan, 43, Thilai-yalagan, 21, Matan, 22, and Kathavarayan, 32, allegedly committed the offence at Lot 2001, Jalan Tanjong Layang, Tanjung Sepat, Banting, be-tween 8.30 pm and 9.45 pm on Aug 30, 2010, and face the mandatory death sentence upon conviction under Section 302 of the Penal Code. The prosecution is being con-ducted by DPPs Ishak Mohd Yusoff, Saiful Edris Zainuddin, Idham Abd Ghani, Siti Rohaida Che Hamid and Nur Azimul Azami Mohamad Nor. Manjeet Singh Dhillon and Pushpa Ratnam represent Path-manabhan while Gurbachan Singh appears for Thilaiyalagan, Amer Hamzah Arshad and Da-tuk Ng See Teong for Matan, and Ravi Nekoo for Kathavaray-an.

Women in fear of TAXI RAPIST

THE spate of rape cas-es committed by taxi drivers have left wom-en fearful that their next cab ride could prove a disastrous one. “I take a lot of cabs and when I need one, I usu-ally call a radio cab com-pany. Sure, it may cost more but it’s worth it for the peace of mind,” said Diane Lee, 25, from Kuala Lumpur.“It is alarming when we read the papers and there are so many such cases. It has come to the point where you get anxious whenever a cab driver deviates from a normal route. You immediately get suspicious and assume the worst,” she said.

Another frequent taxi user, who only wished to be known as Mashi-tah, 22, said some-times, women have no choice but to board the first taxi they see.

“You can’t afford to be choosy during the rush hour,” said the receptionist from Da-mansara. “But the fear is always there at

the back of your mind that this cab driver could turn out to be a monster,” she said.Malay Mail yesterday took to the streets to check on the number of taxis with heavily-tint-ed windows. Among the places scouted were Puduraya, Mid Valley, Bangsar, KL Sentral and the Sogo shopping complex.We found that a large number of cabs sport-ed tinted windows. Most had heavy tints on their rear wind-screen and rear pas-senger windows, which made it difficult for an-yone to spot the rear passengers. It was also alarming to note that some women had no qualms about board-ing taxis which had fully-tinted windows.At the Puduraya bus terminal, our checks showed rows of bus-es which sported ei-ther tinted windows or full curtains. If the curtains were drawn shut, there would be no way to see inside.

The danger of such a situation came to light in 2000, when a wom-an engineer, who was the last passenger on-board a city bus, was raped and strangled to death by a bus driver.Previous simi-lar rape casesOct 7, 2000: Computer engineer Noor Suzaily Muthtar, 24, was raped and strangled to death with her own scarf by the driver of an Ekpres Kiara bus she had taken to Port Klang to meet her fiance. She was the last passenger on the bus and driver Hanafi Mat Hassan, took the bus to a deserted place before raping and murdering her.The incident raised concern about safety on public transport, with many question-ing how a person with a criminal record could be hired. The heavy-tinting of the bus win-dows prompted the then Prime Minister to promise to review tinting regulations for commercial vehicles.

BY SUMITRA VALLIAPPANnewsdesk@theklcrime.com

-THE KL CRIME-In Au-g u s t 2 0 1 1

I was walking inBangsar at lunchtime on a busy street and was mugged by two guys on a bike. They grabbed my bag, which

was over strapped over my head, and dragged me down the street by it until they managed to wres-tle it over my head. I’ve lived in London for 10 years and never been hurt like this be-

fore. I was lucky not. I have heard of white people mown down in multi stories so they could not walk or run to get help while their car was stolen. And tonight a friend was mugged by a taxi driver.

THIEF

THE KL CRIME TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 4,2012>>04

Another girl goes missing in Taman Medan area

Missing: Mohd Nashar holding Sharlinie’s picture as Suraya and Sharliena look on at their home in Taman Dato Harun, Petaling Jaya, on Wednesday.

PETALING JAYA: Another girl has gone missing. This time the victim is five-year-old Sharlinie Mohd Na-shar who disappeared while play-ing about 200m from her house in Taman Dato Harun on Wednesday.Police are not ruling out the pos-sibility that the “Kampung Baru molester” – the man responsible for the cruel killing of Nurin Jaz-lin Jazimin – could have abducted Sharlinie, the second to be report-ed missing in the Taman Medan area in two days. On Monday, a six-year-old girl was abducted by a man on a motor-cycle when she was playing alone

near her flats in Kampung Sepakat, Taman Medan, about 2km from where Sharlinie went missing.

The girl was found three hours later in Wangsa Maju in Setapak.In the 11am incident Wednesday, Sharlinie had followed her sister Sharliena, eight, to a playground about 200m from their double-storey link house in PJS 2. Half an hour later, Sharliena de-cided to return home but Sharlinie did not respond when she called out to her. Sharliena rushed home to inform her mother, Suraya Ahmad, 28,

who went to the playground to search for Sharlinie. About two hours later, Suraya lodged a police report at the dis-trict police headquarters. Petaling Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Arjunaidi Mohamed said Sharlin-ie was last seen wearing a light blue dress with white stripes and pink slippers. “Anyone who has seen this child at the playground or its vicinity must contact us immediately. She is just over 1m tall, about 20kg in weight, has short hair

and a tanned complexion. “We have formed a task force to

find Sharlinie and our focus is to locate her. The incident is similar to the case of the six-year-old girl who went missing on Monday,” he said. Sharlinie’s father, Mohd Nashar Mat Hussain, 29, said he hoped his daughter would be found as soon as possible. “I appeal to the public to help find her before anything untoward happens to her. I am sure some-one would have noticed the two kids playing there,” he said.

-THE KL CRIME-

-THE KL CRIME-

Nurin’s murder case: Police release photofitsKUALA LUMPUR: Photofits of a man and a woman, both said to be locals, were released by police in connection with the kidnap cum murder of eight-year-old Nurin Jaz-lin Jazimin. Federal CID director Comm Datuk Christopher Wan Soo Kee said the photofits were produced with de-scriptions given by the public. “The duo can help shed light on the case and assist us in investiga-tions,” he said at Bukit Aman on Tuesday. “The man is aged between 35 and 40, 168cm in height and has fair complexion. The man went to housing areas in Bangsar, enquiring about renting a room for him and his daughter. “He approached numerous house owners several times around the time Nurin Jazlin went missing,” he said. On the woman’s photofit, Comm Wan said she is in her 20s, 153cm tall and with shoulder length hair.

“She was seen near the dark blue sports bag in which Nurin Jazlin’s body was found at a shoplot in Pet-aling Jaya Utama on Sept 17. He urged those who remember seeing anyone in that area fitting the description and carrying the bag on Sept 16 and 17 to contact the police immediately. Alam in connection with Nurin’s case last Thursday were released at 4pm on Monday. He refused to reveal why the four aged between 27 and 35 were re-leased even though their remand period was for a week until Oct 4. “We are still waiting for their DNA test results but we have released them based on other evidence,” he said. Comm Wan said this leaves only the 23-year-old Indonesian woman detained on Saturday. Promising them an ice-cream if they helped locate his missing cat, the suspect took the girls away on his motorcycle.

The girls were then molested and had brinjals forced into their pri-vate parts before they were re-leased several hours later. Comm Christopher also confirmed the four men detained in Shah Alam in connection with Nurin’s case last Thursday were released at 4pm on Monday. He refused to reveal why the four aged between 27 and 35 were re-leased even though their remand period was for a week until Oct 4.

Comm Wan said this leaves only the 23-year-old Indonesian woman detained on Saturday.

THE KL CRIME TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 4,2012>>05

Noritta Samsudin murder trial: Hanif’s acquittal upheldPUTRAJAYA: Engineer HanifBasree Abdul Rahman remains a free man after the Federal Court unanimously dismissed the pros-ecution’s appeal against his ac-quittal for murdering 22-year-old Noritta Samsudin five years ago. In affirming Hanif’s acquittal, Court of Appeal president Justice Zaki Tun Azmi when reading his judgment said he found the trial judge as well as the Court of Appeal had correctly exam-

ined the evidence before them and correctly applied the principles of law.

Therefore the prosecution had not discharged its burden in this case, he said, adding that the High Court judge was right in deciding not to call for Hanif’s defence at the end of the prosecution’s case. On Jan 29, 2005, the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s decision to acquit 40-year-old Hanif Basree, a

Shah Alam City Coun-cil engineer, of mur-dering Noritta, a busi-ness development executive and part-time guest relations officer, at a Puncak Prima Galleria Condominium apart-ment unit in Sri Harta-mas, Kuala Lumpur be-tween 1.30am and 4am on Dec 5, 2003.

More stories of crime in KLThe first terrifying inci-dent I read about on Fa-cebook. Here is the link to the very well written and detailed account of a young Malaysian woman who was abducted in The Curve shopping centre car park this past weekend. She managed, through a mixture of smart-thinking, perseverance and a bit of good luck, to escape, and is now using social networking to spread the word and warn other women. The story is also covered in today’s The Star Online.The second incident also

made an appearance in The Star, yesterday. A former Miss Malaysia, LinaTeoh, tells how, while driving on Jalan Duta, near the Jalan Kuching roundabout (5 minutes from where I live), she was involved in a minor accident with a motor-bike. She maintains that the collision was not her fault as he car was barely moving. She stopped on the hard shoulder and got out of the car to check on the motorcyclist. What ensued was threatening behavior and demands for money, ending with

her car being hit with a thick metal chain. Accord-ing to MsTeoh, this is one of many similar incidents that have occurred in this area recently, and she believes that it is the work of a syndicate preying on women drivers, staging minor accidents with the intention of extracting money from drivers.

Now both the women involved in these cases have been very active in publicizing their fortunate escapes. Both are savvy users of social media and feel a moral obligation

to warn other women to watch out for similar threats. I have a theory that what we are seeing (and what I’m discuss-ing a lot with my friends in person and online) is not a sudden upsurge in bag snatching and abduc-tions in the city, but an increase in people’s ability to spread the message, so that we are becoming more and more aware of what’s going on.This in itself gives me hope. The more noise we - by which I mean inhabit-ants of this mostly great city -

Beware of Pickpockets @ Mid Valley Komuter StationOn 30/3/2012, my bf (from Canada) and I boarded a commuter around 6.45pm (rush hour) @ Mid Valley KTM Komuter Station. Within minutes upon entering the commuter, he realized that his iPhone 4s which was strapped in front of his chest is missing. This is our first experience in using the commuter train, and as such, were not prepared for the mad, mad crowd of passengers trying to make their way in (and out) of the com-muter where everyone was pushed against one another (great opportu-nity for pickpockets!).

When we arrived at the KL Sentral Police Station (one station from Mid Valley), we were shocked

to discover that another Japanese tourist has had his handphone stolen as well, in the same train, at the same time. While comparing both the Japa-nese tourist and my bf, I observed the same simi-larities:1. Both men were playing with their phones while waiting for the commuter.2. Both men had their hands occupied with shopping bags.3. Both men were wear-ing sling bags across their chest (like what tourists usually do!).According to the Police Officer investigating our case, there has been a lot of similar pickpocket cases recently, and they are try-ing their best to catch the culprit.

Therefore, this is my ad-vice to all:1. Do not play with your handphone while waiting for the commuter/bus/train.2. Ensure that you hold on tight to all your belong-ings once inside (or while entering) the commuter/bus/train especially when there’s a mad rush and people are bumping against one another.3. Ensure that you do not carry too many shopping bags with you if you’re planning to board a com-muter (or any other mode of public transportation) during rush hour (this means that you’re most probably too occupied with taking care of your shopping bags and less occupied to pay attention

to your handphones/wal-lets).4. TRY NOT TO LOOK LIKE A TOURIST!! (i.e. sling bags across your chest/waist) 5. Be EXTRA careful if you’re planning to take the commuter @ Midval-ley station (am not sure about other stations)

THE KL CRIME TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 4,2012>>06

BY LINDA HAMZAHnews@theklcrime.my

Leaders of opposition parties were among those detained dur-ing a massive security operation but it failed to thwart the out-lawed demonstration which saw 50,000 people take to the streets of Kuala Lumpur, according to organisers.With elections expected to be called early next year, demonstra-tors were demanding changes to the voting process including eradication of vote buying and prevention of irregularities which they say marred previous polls.Opposition leader Anwar Ibra-him, who is currently on trial ac-cused of sodomy, told AFP that he suffered bruising to his head and a cut on his leg after he was knocked down in the pandemo-nium when police fired tear gas.“They shot directly (at us)... I could hardly breathe and stand up at the time,” the former depu-ty prime minister said from a hos-pital bed, where the 62-year-old said he will be kept in overnight and was on pain killers.“I considered it (the demonstra-tion) a success despite the fact that they (police) were really bru-tal in their action,” added a frail-looking Anwar, who says the lurid accusations against him are politi-cally motivated.Bersih, the broad coalition that organised the rare protest, wants to see the use of indelible ink to prevent multiple voting, equal access to the media for all parties and the cleaning-up of electoral rolls.The opposition led by Anwar made major gains in 2008 elec-tions against the ruling coalition but said it would have done bet-

ter -- potentially threatening the Barisan Nasional’s half-century rule -- if voting had been more fair.Saturday’s rally was Malaysia’s biggest street protest since 2007, when the opposition led a dem-onstration in the capital also de-manding electoral reforms.At the height of the latest action, protesters faced baton-wielding riot police in front of a bus sta-tion, retreating at times and re-grouping to push back police lines in a cat-and-mouse confrontation in heavy downpours.Some demonstrators fought back by picking up tear gas canisters which they lobbed at police, AFP reporters said. Many of the pro-testers shouted “Reformasi!” (Re-forms), “God is great” and “Long Live the People.”But police lines held firm and the protesters -- who numbered 10,000 in total, police said -- failed to break through to march to a stadium and to the king’s pal-ace to hand over a memorandum detailing their demands.“Why is the government try-ing to intimidate citizens?” said Mohamad Manij Abdullah, 50, a businessman who joined the rally.“We are only trying to reform elections and have a free and fair government,” he told AFP.An official police Facebook page said 1,667 people had been ar-rested, including 16 children who were brought along by their fami-lies, although many were expect-ed to be released on bail.Among those detained were pro-test leader Ambiga Sreenivasan and Maria Chin Abdullah. Ambiga, former head of the Malaysia Bar Council, told AFP she was freed later Saturday without being charged.

Abdul Hadi Awang, president of the Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS), the country’s largest op-position grouping, was also ar-rested.The protesters had rallied in sev-eral areas of the city after a police lockdown rendered the streets eerily quiet in some parts.Downtown Kuala Lumpur, nor-mally a hive of activity on week-ends, was deserted as major roads into the commercial and tourist district were sealed off.Mukhriz Mahathir, a leading member of the powerful United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), told AFP the govern-ment had to act to prevent anar-chy.“We cannot allow a minority group to protest and stir trouble in the country,” he said, accusing protesters of provoking the police into firing tear gas “so that they can accuse the government of be-ing heavy handed.”UMNO is the dominant party in the Barisan Nasional coalition led by Prime Minister Najib Razak.Amnesty International criticised the government for the crack-down and urged the authorities to release those arrested and “re-spect basic freedom of assembly.”New York-based watchdog Hu-man Rights Watch (HRW) also denounced the arrests.Meanwhile, about 30 Malaysians living in South Korea rallied in Seoul in support, with another 80 marching through central Hong Kong.

Bersih 2.0 rally for electoral reform

THE KL CRIME THE KL CRIME TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 4,2012 TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 4,2012>>07 >>08

Facebook crimes ranging from scams to online bullying are on the rise, and they are getting more sophisticat-ed, experts warn.It’s no secret that scammers on the social media web-site rely on carefully crafted baits that often include scandalous and explicit video content or exclusive footage of the latest and hottest events, from celebrity death claims to never-before-seen footage of a natural disaster.Just last week, a “clickjacking” scam that claimed Lady Gaga was found dead in a hotel room spread like wild-fire on Facebook thanks to a link that took users to a fake BBC News website.Ploys such as the Lady Gaga scam aim to increase clicks to a page or link because they are paid by adver-tisers for every click they help generate. Others steal personal information, from names to addresses that are extracted when users fill out a fake survey, and that data is later sold to other cybercriminals.Meanwhile, rarer cybercrimes on Facebook involve the installation of malicious software, or “malware,” on computers so credit card information can be easily stolen.However, the rise of these Facebook crimes isn’t lim-ited to just scams and phishing activities. There’s also cyberbullying, sexual predation and even robberies that occur after users post GPS location about their whereabouts to inform others they are out of town.A Facebook crime wave?As Facebook becomes riskier to use, experts are weighing in on why these crimes are happening at such a rapid rate.“These types of crimes are designed to use your own actions or weaknesses against you,” said Lynette Ow-ens, director of Internet Safety for Kids & Families, an online resource hosted by Trend Micro, a global digital security firm based in Tokyo.“As humans, and for good reason, we put trust in oth-ers more often than not because most people at most times are worthy of that trust. The online world is no different than the offline world in that sense.”A recent Pew Internet & American Life study found that Facebook users are more trusting than people who are not members of the social networking site.In fact, a Facebook user who uses the site multiple times per day is 43 percent more likely than other Internet users and more than three times as likely as non-Internet users to feel that most people can be trusted.According to Paul Zak, a professor at Claremont Col-lege, scammers prey on Facebook users not only be-cause they are an easy target, but because they also don’t know their victims.“It’s easier to hurt someone when you’re not seeing them in person,” Zak told TechNewsDaily. “Neurosci-ence research shows that moral violations are less likely when interactions are personal because people

empathize with those they meet in person. In the online world, peo-ple are just a number.”Many cy-bercrimi-nals include pictures in scams since the brain is especially sensitive to images, Zak said.

For example, he noted that a reoccurring scam started popping up on Facebook that solicited donations to pay for the funeral of a young child allegedly from a neighboring town.

“However, we started to notice that every weekend there was another child’s funeral that needed dona-tions, and that’s when suspicions started to rise,” Zak said.

The scams

Trust bustet often disregarded precaution, such as carefully reading the permissions requested by an app, could spare users the effort of cleaning their accounts of automatic scammy posts,” Jelea said.

Owens of Trend Micro agrees that Facebook us-ers aren’t taking extra precautions to prevent these crimes.

“You assume that your house won’t be robbed each time you leave, but you probably still lock the door,” Owens said. “When you are home and someone rings the door bell, you let those you know in and not those you don’t know. The same rules apply to social net-works.”

That said, Owens advises Facebook users to connect only with those they know can be trusted, use the strongest privacy settings possible, share only when necessary and keep up-to-date, reputable security software on every device used to access the Internet.

“I don’t think it’s solely the responsibility of social networks to solve these issues,” Owens said. “Parents should become savvy users themselves so they can teach their kids early on how to be safe online.”

“Schools should also integrate this into education, especially as technology becomes a greater part of the education system overall,” he added.

Facebook Crime

BY : LIM SIEW KOK

news@theklcrime.my

10 January 2008 Petaling Jaya

Another young girl has gone missing after play-ing at a playground near her flats in Taman Dato Harun on Wednesday at 11am. 5-year-old Sharlinie Mohd Nashar went to the playground with her 8-year-old sister, Sharliena, but half an hour later when they decided to return home, Sharlinie was nowhere to be found.

This incident comes just after a 6-year-old girl was abducted by a motorcyclist on Monday in Kampung Sepakat, Taman Medan, but was later found wandering in Wangsa Maju, Seta-pak. Police did not rule out the possibility that the “Kampung Baru molester” is the one re-sponsible for these two cases, which occurred within 2km of each other.

Sharliena rushed home to inform her 28-year-old mother, Suraya Ahmad, who went to lodge a police report at 2pm after failing to find Sharlinie at the playground.

Sharlinie has been described as wearing a light blue dress with white stripes and pink slip-pers. She is about 1m tall, weighs 20kg, has a tanned skin and short hair.

Police have released a photofit of the suspect for the Monday abduction case

Missing child : Sharlinie Mohd Nashar from Taman Dato Harun At the Ipoh Magistrate’s Court, a security guard was

charged with the murder of Perak Veterinary deputy direc-tor Dr Rohani Kasim.No plea was recorded from Syahmie Hassan, aged 20, when the charges were read to him before magistrate Nurul Ak-mal Mustafa Kamal.The accused, who was unrepresented, was charged with murdering Dr Rohani, 38 at Permai Lake View Apartment in Ulu Kinta, Perak on August 3rd.Meanwhile Syahmie’s housemate, former soldier Nur Hisy-am Shukor, was charged with disposing off jewellery worth six thousand ringgit belonging to the victim.The offence was committed at Kam Seng watch shop in Tan-jung Malim the day after the murder.The magistrate set October 17 for re-mention of both cases.

DR ROHANI MURDER

-THE KL CRIME-

THE KL CRIME TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 4,2012>>09 THE KL CRIME

TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 4,2012>>10

PLANNED CRIME:

Couple allegedly

posed as clients to

lure real estate agent

into apartment

City Criminal Investigation Department chief Datuk Ku Chin Wah says the man (left) wore dark glasses and avoided eye contact with the cameras. (Right) The woman accompanying the male suspect.

KUALA LUMPUR: POLICE yesterday released closed-circuit television (CCTV) images of a couple suspected of robbing and raping a real estate agent last week.

City Criminal Investigation Department chief Datuk Ku Chin Wah said they obtained the CCTV images from various locations in the area.

“The man wore sunglasses and avoided eye contact with CCTVs, so, it was clear that it was a pre-meditated criminal act rather than a spontaneous one,” Ku said.

“We have also identified the car they used, a white Mitsubishi Lancer with fake plates, which we believe is their own car.”

The couple had allegedly posed as clients and met the 34-year-old victim from Kepong at a condominium in Mont Kiara on May 10.

The woman was then robbed and raped before she was locked up in the unit.

The couple took her Toyota Vios with her mobile phone and laptop.

Auxiliary policemen alerted police who then rescued her the following morning and sent her to University of Malaya Medical Centre.

Ku urged those with information on the suspects to contact investigating officer Inspector Mohd Najeeb Mohd Hisan at 012-729 3533.

Asked if this case was linked to the murder of another real estate agent, Chen Choi Mooi, whose body was found near the Batu Dam in Gombak on May 9, Ku said it was too early to reach that conclusion as the mur-der investigation was being handled by Selangor police.

“But we are exchanging notes and sharing information,” he said.

Chen, 39, from Jinjang Utara, had gone to meet a prospective tenant at 1pm on May 8 and never returned home.

On May 9, police found her car in Batu 5, Jinjang and contacted her husband later that night to identify a body at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital mortuary.

Post-mortem results revealed that Chen had died of strangulation and she was believed to have been tied as there were bruises on both wrists

Rape bid at varsity foiledMALACCA: A final year student was almost raped after she was attacked by an intruder inside a women’s toilet at a private university here.

The victim managed to fight off the attacker but suffered bruises on her face and burst veins in her eye af-ter being continuously hammered and sprayed with pepper spray.

Recalling the horrifying incident, the 22-year-old student, who only wanted to be known as Chin, said she had gone to one of the study rooms with a friend on Sunday night to prepare for her final examination.“We had been studying there since afternoon and returned after having our dinner at about 8pm.

“I decided to go to the washroom before continuing,” she said yesterday.

Chin said she entered the second of the three toilet cu-bicles and was certain that no one else was there at that time.

“I heard someone entering but didn’t suspect anything.

“When I got out of the cubicle, I was surprised to see the washroom door closed.

“Suddenly, a man came out from the first cubicle and charged at me.

“He covered my mouth with his hand and started spray-ing pepper spray into my eyes,’’ said Chin.

She said the man pushed her back into the second cubicle and she fell onto the floor.

Chin said he started hitting her on the head while con-tinuing to spray pepper spray into her eyes and mouth.

“I was choking, I couldn’t see anything and the beatings became worse. I pretended to pass out, hoping he would stop spraying and hitting me,’’ said Chin.

When he stopped hitting her, she screamed for help.

“He hit me again and tried to put his hand inside my T-shirt but I kept struggling,” she said, adding that she kicked, pushed and bit her attacker.

Chin’s actions proved too much for the man who suddenly got up and left.

“I quickly got up and ran outside for help,’’ she said, adding that the university’s student council members helped send her to hospital and lodge a police report.

State police chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk Chuah Ghee Lye said police would speak with the university soon on improving its security.

Harrowing experience: Chin showing her bruises and burst veins in an eye which she sustained during the attack.

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Bersih 2.0 rally for electoral reformMalaysian police fired tear gas and water cannon and made over 1,600 arrests on Saturday during clashes with protesters who de-fied government warnings to rally in the capital for electoral reform. Page 06

TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 4,2012 EM: $1.50 SM: $2.00