‘Toyol’ scam leaves elderly woman RM700,000 poorer

KUALA LUMPUR: A 77-year-old woman has become the latest victim of confidence-tricksters who prey on superstitious elderly women.

They got her to believe that a toyol (imp) was after her jewellery and told her to collect all her valuables and hide them. She did, only to find it all gone.

The woman, who lives in Bukit Bandaraya here, lost RM700,000 in valuables to the gang on Nov 28.

On that day, she received a telephone call from an unknown female caller informing her that a repairman would be coming around to check on her cooker’s gas valves.

Soon after the call, a man arrived identifying himself as the repairman. As he fiddled with the gas stove, the victim received another call.

This time the caller claimed to be a policeman and advised her to hide her gold jewellery from the toyol by wrapping them up in a white cloth and placing a leaf over the bundle.

(A toyol is a mythical spirit in the Malay mythology. A person who keeps a toyol uses it mainly to steal things from other people or to do mischief.)

The victim followed the caller’s advice. Later, the victim realised that the repairman and her jewellery were gone.

Brickfields deputy OCPD Supt Azri Abdul Rahman said police were able to recover some of the lost jewellery after a woman and five men were picked up in a series of raids beginning Dec 16.

“However most of the precious stones have been removed from the jewellery,” he said.

Supt Azri said that the group was believed to be responsible for 14 similar thefts this year and all the victims were elderly women.