JOHOR BARU: A 37-year-old company director lost more than RM1.1mil after she was made to believe that she was implicated in money laundering activities.
Johor police chief Comm Datuk M. Kumar said the victim received a call from a delivery company around 3pm on Oct 31, telling her that she had a package containing a cheque book and a bank token.
He said when the victim said she had no idea about the parcel, the caller said she would be "transferred" to the police to file a denial report.
"The victim was then connected to an officer known as Insp Harun, who told her that her Visa card was linked to money laundering and fraud activities.
"She was instructed to transfer all her bank savings to an account for a purported investigation by Bank Negara Malaysia.
"Out of fear and concern about facing legal consequences, she transferred RM1,140,320 as directed,” he said.
The victim only realised she had been duped after being asked to transfer more money. She filed a police report on Nov 22.The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating, which provides for imprisonment of not less than one year and not more than 10 years, whipping and a fine upon conviction.
Comm Kumar advised the public to remain vigilant when receiving calls from people claiming to be police officers or enforcement agency personnel.
He said the authorities would never request for money to be transferred to any bank account for investigative purposes.
He also urged the public to stay informed about the latest commercial crime trends by following the official accounts of the Commercial Crime Investigation Department on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok under @CyberCrimeAlert and @JSJK PDRM.
