IPOH: A retired civil servant in Taiping near here has been cheated of more than RM1mil in a scam, says Perak police chief Comm Datuk Azizi Mat Aris.
He said the 67-year-old victim was scammed by people who claimed to be from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the police.
Comm Azizi said on Aug 8, the victim received a call from a woman who claimed to be from the MCMC, alleging that the victim’s bank card was used in money laundering activities.
“The call was then connected to another person who identified himself as ‘Sjn Tan Keng Seng’ who was said to be investigating the matter,” he said in a statement yesterday.
“The victim was further contacted by several other individuals who claimed to be from the Terengganu police contingent.
“The victim was instructed by one of the scammers to put her bank automated teller machine (ATM) card in an envelope before leaving it at an address provided by them.
“The victim later received a message from her bank stating that money had been moved into two separate bank accounts between Aug 16 and 23,” he said, adding that some money was also withdrawn from an ATM.
“There were 75 transactions involving about RM476,550,” said Comm Azizi.
He said the victim was contacted again by the scammers to deposit her money into another bank account for the purpose of “investigation” and to prevent it from being frozen.
“The scammers also promised to return the money to her once the matter was settled.
“As the victim believed the scammers, she made 24 transactions involving RM590,000 from her bank account into nine different accounts.
“After checking her bank statement, she found that she had lost more than RM1mil, and realised that she had been cheated,” he said, adding that a report was lodged on Tuesday.
“The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code,” he said.
Comm Azizi advised people to not easily trust calls from unknown numbers.
“Do not panic when receiving such calls from people who identify themselves to be from enforcement agencies. It is better to not entertain and to instead end these calls.
“Enforcement agencies will not connect calls to other agencies.
“Should there be any doubt, check with the relevant agencies and do not call the numbers provided by the scammers.
“People should never ever deposit money into the bank account of strangers, and never ever provide personal banking details to them.
“Call the National Scam Response Centre at 997 to get verification before making any transaction,” Comm Azizi added.
