Ipoh district deputy police chief, Supt Abdul Rani Alias said investigations found that the contact numbers displayed on banners or loan advertisements did not belong to the actual loan sharks and were not registered using proper procedures.

“They use the identity of other individuals, that’s why we cannot trace the real owners of the phone numbers,” he told a press conference at the Commercial Crime Investigation Department, Sungai Senam, here, today.

He said that since January, police had detained 68 individuals, aged 20 to 60 years, believed to be involved in illegal money-lending activities.

Last year, 53 individuals were arrested and 120 cases investigated, he said.

Abdul Rani said in a three-day operation which began on Tuesday in collaboration with the Ipoh City Council, as many as 6,010 banners displaying illegal money-lending services were removed from around Sungai Senam, Pasir Puteh, Bercham, Kampung Rapat and Ampang Baru, here.