SEREMBAN – A retired teacher lost RM1,824,714.83 after falling prey to a Macau scam syndicate member, who claimed that the victim was involved in money laundering here two months ago.
Negri Sembilan IPK Commercial Crime Investigation Department head Aibee Abd Ghani said the 66-year-woman received a call from who a man who introduced himself as "Sergeant Albert Lai" from the Pahang district police headquarters on October 28.
“The man claimed that the victim was involved in an illegal money-laundering and cheating case. Then, on October 31, the victim received another call from a man who introduced himself as ‘Inspector Yong’ from Bukit Aman.
“Inspector Yong requested the victim’s bank account details and instructed her to transfer all the money from her bank account for investigation purposes and asked the victim not to inform her family members,” he said in a statement today.
Aibee said the frightened victim then transferred all her savings, in stages, into several bank accounts provided by the suspect.
“The victim only realised she was cheated after she told her son about the incident before lodging a police report yesterday,” he said.
Meanwhile, in Alor Star, a livestock breeder became RM202,909 poorer after he fell victim to a Macau scam syndicate member who told the victim on Monday that he had business tax arrears registered under his company.
Kedah Commercial Crime Investigation Department head Elias Omar said the 32-year-old man from Sg Petani received a call from a woman who introduced herself as an officer from the Inland Revenue Board (IRB).
“The victim denied the matter and the call was subsequently connected to a man disguised as an inspector from the Pahang contingent police headquarters. The call was later connected to another man claiming to be a police officer with the a Datuk title from IPK Pahang.
“The suspect then asked the victim to open his WhatsApp app before he was asked to open a message link provided to fill in personal information for further investigation.
“The victim filled up his personal and company details before he began to feel suspicious, and checked his company’s bank account balance.
“The victim found eight online transactions amounting RM202,909 made to six different bank accounts,” he said, adding the victim lodged a police report yesterday. – Bernama, December 24, 2020
