Elaborating on an earlier statement, Ayob told FMT that the calls had been taking place over the last two months and came to light last month when a victim lodged a police report in Kuala Lumpur.

“The impersonator asked for payment for the release of a suspect,” he said, but declined to reveal the amount sought.

He said police were tracking down the callers, adding that he did not rule out the possibility of the suspects using a burner phone.

Asked if they could be linked to drug lords or syndicates who could be trying to smear his name in revenge for his successes against them, he said that was one of the lines of investigation.

“It’s too early to say if the calls were merely a scam to cheat people of their money or attempts to discredit me as a form of vengeance,” he said.

“I would like to urge others who may have fallen victim to these scammers to step forward to help with our investigation.”

Ayob said he believed the scammers were using the emotional weaknesses of relatives of detainees to make a fast buck, adding that there was no such thing as paying to escape prosecution.

“The first thing anyone should do after receiving such a call is to lodge a police report,” he said.

Last Thursday, Ayob said police had identified two mobile phone numbers linked to people posing as the state police chief with the intention to commit fraud.

He warned the public to be wary of the phone numbers 016-4818565 and 010-8368223.

“We would like to remind the public to not be easily deceived by telephone calls from individuals claiming to be the Johor police chief.”

Johor police said those coming across these impersonators should report the matter to the nearest police station or to contact the Johor control centre at 07-2254047 or the special officer to the police chief at 013-9058124.