IPOH: A retiree lost more than RM180,000 after he fell victim to a phone scam in Taiping.
Taiping OCPD Asst Comm Razlam Ab Hamid said the 42-year-old victim had lost a total of RM186,350, adding that the victim lodged a report on Saturday (Aug 26) evening.
"He received a call on Aug 24 from a suspect who claimed he was a Kuala Lumpur post office officer who said there was a parcel containing the victim's MyKad and credit cards that was supposed to be mailed to Sarawak.
"The victim was connected to another suspect who told him to lodge a police report online and to transfer out RM146,450 from his account for investigation purposes," he said in a statement on Sunday (Aug 27).
ACP Razlam said the victim panicked and followed the instructions blindly and made 38 transactions to six different bank accounts from Aug 24 to 26.
"The suspects told him that they would contact him again but they never did.
"The victim then called the same number several times but was blocked. That was when he realised he had been cheated," he said.
He advised the public not to be easily scammed by individuals claiming that they are the authorities.
"One cannot simply connect a call from one agency to another – and the police will never contact anyone to arrest them.
"All matters related to government agencies are done at the department itself and not online," he said, adding that no one should share their bank account details with strangers.
