KUANTAN, Nov 22 — A female teacher not only lost her savings but also ended up incurring debt from a personal loan she took after falling victim to a Macau scam syndicate.
Pahang police chief Datuk Seri Yahaya Othman said last October, the 34-year-old victim received a phone call from an individual claiming to be from a courier company regarding a parcel registered under her name.
He said the suspect told the victim that the parcel had been seized by the police as it contained documents such as an identity card, a chequebook and a credit card.
“The call was then connected to another individual claiming to be a police officer from the Penang Police District headquarters, and was subsequently transferred to a person who claimed to be from Bukit Aman.
“The victim was duped into believing that she was involved in drug smuggling and money laundering activities,” he said in a statement today.
Yahaya said the suspect then instructed the victim to transfer money to an acount, and take out a personal loan with a bank before being asked to share her bank account details for investigation purposes.
“The victim claimed to have transferred money amounting to RM362,399 to the account given by the suspect and only realised she had been cheated after failing to contact the suspect to inquire about the progress of the investigation into the case,” he said.
The woman lodged a report at the a police station in Cameron Highlands yesterday.
Yahaya advised the public not to panic when receiving suspicious phone calls and to check the telephone and bank account numbers through the link https://semakmule.rmp.gov.my before making any transactions.
