Primary school teacher loses RM387k to scammer

JOHOR BARU: A primary school teacher lost a whopping RM387,000 to a scammer impersonating as a traffic police officer.

Johor police chief Comm Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said the 38-year-old woman, a victim of Macam scam, received a call on Feb 4 this year.

He said the victim was told by the suspect that she was involved in a hit-and-run case.

"The suspect then requested the victim to open a new bank account under her name.

"The suspect managed to convince the victim into registering an unknown phone number to the account, to which the suspect used to control it," he said in a statement on Thursday (April 9).

He said the victim was told to get rid of all evidence of the transactions, such as receipts and their text conversations, and to not tell her relatives or friends about the matter.

Comm Ayob said that the suspect also requested the victim to transfer all her money, which included her savings and cash from personal loans from her old account, into the new account.

"The suspect then took hold of the funds through online transfers," he said.

The victim made a police report on Wednesday (April 8) after noticing her money was missing.

The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code, which carries a penalty of 10 years imprisonment, caning and a fine.

Comm Ayob urged the public to not fall for such scams and not panic when receiving calls from those claiming to be from the authorities.

"Law enforcement will not request for your personal info and account numbers.

"If you are asked to transfer money to another account please, check the said account on www.ccid.rmp.gov.my/semakmule

to determine if the account is related to previous scams," he said, adding that alternatively, contact the nearest police station.