KUANTAN: An assistant Agriculture officer has lost RM215,100 after being duped by Macau Scam syndicate members posing as insurance and police officers.
Pahang police chief Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said the 45-year-old victim received a phone call from an individual who introduced himself as an insurance officer in November last year.
He said the individual claimed that the victim had made three false claims, and the police were conducting investigations into the matter.
"The victim was then contacted by another suspect claiming to be a police officer who accused her of being involved in money laundering and corruption.
"The woman was also required to pay a bail of RM400,000 and give details of her bank accounts for investigation purposes," he said in a statement here on Saturday (Jan 21).
Ramli said the victim only realised that she had been cheated after finding out that there were 33 transactions made from her online banking account, before lodging a police report at the Temerloh district police headquarters (IPD) on Thursday (Jan 19).
In a separate case, he said a 37-year-old woman from Maran lost RM165,090 after giving her personal bank information to a third party on Jan 13.
He said the victim was contacted by an individual claiming to be a courier company worker who said she had received a parcel containing prohibited items.
"The victim was then contacted by a 'police officer' who claimed that the victim’s name had been used to open a bank account that was involved in a money laundering case.
"Afraid that she would be arrested, the victim followed the instructions given by the suspect who gave her a link to fill in her banking details," he said.
As such, Ramli advised the public to contact the police if they receive suspicious phone calls and not to share banking information with third parties to avoid falling victim to scammers. - Bernama
