KOTA BARU – A government employee in his 50s lost RM852,000 after being deceived by a syndicate, whose members posed as insurance, court and police officers.
Kelantan police chief Datuk Muhamad Zaki Harun said that, based on investigations, the male victim received a phone call from a woman claiming to be from an insurance company in Ampang at the end of January.
He said in the call, the suspect alleged that the victim had made a claim for the cost of surgery three times in a short period of time. Zaki added that the victim also received a phone call from the same insurance company in early February informing him that he had been involved in a money laundering case.
“The scammer said an arrest warrant and warrant to freeze the victim’s bank account had been issued. The phone call was later connected to a woman who identified herself as a ‘deputy public prosecutor’.
“The victim was instructed to open an Agro Bank account and provide the phone number given by the suspect during the process of opening the new account and the victim was also told to transfer money from his ASB account into the newly opened account,” Zaki said in a statement today.
Zaki said the suspect also instructed the victim to take out a personal loan of RM350,000 with MBSB bank and transfer it into his Agro Bank account.
He said the scammer then told the victim that the court needed three months to give him an official decision.
“In early April, the victim tried to register online banking for his Agro Bank account but failed because someone had registered using his account number.
“The victim then checked at a nearby bank and found that the balance in his account was only RM48. Realising that he had been cheated, the victim came to the police station to file a report,” he said.
He added that the victim lost about RM850,000 and the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code. – Bernama, May 27, 2023
