KUCHING: A 55-year-old woman suffered losses amounting to RM1.18mil after falling victim to a Macau scam recently.
The information technology staff member at a private company in Bintulu said she received a phone call on May 22 from an unknown man from Putrajaya, who claimed she had registered a phone number in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
In her police report, the woman said she was accused of slandering the Health Ministry with that number.
Sarawak police commissioner Datuk Mohd Azman Ahmad Sapri said the call was then transferred to two individuals claiming to be “Sergeant Wong” and “Inspector Khoo” from Kota Kinabalu, who told the victim she was also suspected of being involved in money laundering.
"The victim was then informed by the suspects that Bank Negara wanted to check her funds and she was required to open new bank accounts in her name and transfer the money to the new accounts for the investigation," he said in a statement today (June 11).
Mohd Azman said the victim, who panicked, opened three bank accounts in Bintulu on May 23 and June 9 and transferred money from her Employees' Provident Fund and bank account amounting to RM881,000 and RM300,000 respectively, into the new accounts.
The woman was also instructed by the so-called “Inspector Khoo” to give him the information of the new accounts along with the online banking usernames and passwords.
"The victim was also told to break and throw away the three ATM cards.
“She only realised that she had been duped after she told her husband about it and contacted the bank, which informed her that there had been several money transfers totalling RM1.18mil from her three bank accounts to an account in the name of an unknown individual," he said. - Bernama
