JOHOR BARU: A 46-year-old managing director of a company lost RM520,000 after he was scammed by bogus police.
Johor police chief Comm M. Kumar said the victim lodged a report on Sunday after realising that he was duped.
“In early May, the victim received a call from an unknown individual, who introduced himself as a police officer from the northern part of the country.
“The scammer claimed to have found the victim’s ATM card during one of their raids and claimed that the victim was involved in money laundering.
“The call was then transferred to another scammer who claimed to be an inspector, named Lee Kha Seng.
“Lee offered the victim ‘help’ so that his bank account would not be frozen,” Comm Kumar said in a statement yesterday.
He said the victim was requested to transfer his money to a bank account, purportedly to help with the investigation.
“The victim believed the call was legitimate as his name and IC number were correctly mentioned by the scammers.
“He was also given a letter via WhatsApp that had a court letterhead, stating that his assets would be confiscated.
“The victim then transferred RM520,000 to the bank account.
”However, he was still pressed for more money; this was when he realised he had been cheated,” said Comm Kumar.
The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
Comm Kumar reminded victims to contact the National Scam Response Centre at 997 to stop any financial transfers from a suspect’s bank account.
“They should also follow the Commercial Crime Investigation Department’s social media account to be aware of the tactics used by scammers to dupe victims.”
He urged the public to use the Semak Mule website and download the Whoscall application to prevent being scammed.
