FAMILY members of a 58-year-old housewife in Masjid Tanah, Melaka claim that she was stupefied by "black magic" into handing over more than RM20,000 worth of jewellery, including a gold bracelet and chain.
In a viral social media post, they claimed that the woman was hypnotised into cooperating with four suspects, who claimed to be foreigners.
Is it true that black magic was used by the scammers to dupe the victim into parting with her jewellery?
VERDICT:
FALSE
Alor Gajah OCPD Supt Ahsari Abdul Samah said police were aware of the case but rubbished claims that black magic was involved.
"The case resulted from the greed of the victim, who thought she could gain RM50,000 by cooperating with the scammers.
"The victim lodged a police report at the Kuala Sungai Baru police station on Saturday (May 18) claiming to have been deceived by three men and a woman," Supt Ashari said.
According to him, the suspects offered her cash in exchange for her help in collecting their winnings from a four-digit outlet in Masjid Tanah.
He said preliminary investigations showed that the victim willingly handed over her jewellery to the scammers after she was promised part of the prize money.
"The fraudsters claimed they were foreigners and needed the victim's help to claim the prize money.
"They promised her RM50,000 for doing so," he said, adding that they asked her to hand over her jewellery as security.
Supt Ahsari said the victim was on her way to buy groceries when she was approached by the suspects.
"Such scams have been around for a long time and we continue to get people falling for such tactics," he said, adding that police are searching for the suspects.
