Wanted scammer cheats woman out of RM2mil inheritance in Melaka

MELAKA: A scammer high on the police wanted list managed to pull through another fraud by cheating a 49-year woman of her RM2mil inheritance here.

Melaka Commercial Crime chief Supt E. Sundra Rajan said the scammer posing as a police officer with the title "Datuk" convinced the victim that she had a warrant of arrest against her for alleged involvement in drug trafficking and money laundering cases.

"The fraudster claimed he was a high ranking officer from the Pahang police contingent headquarters," Supt Sundra said on Monday (Jan 25).

The victim was ordered to divulge her bank account details as well as her one-time password (OTP) by the scammer after claiming it was part of an investigation.

"The victim followed the instructions of the scammer out of fear being arrested.

"She received the call on Jan 10 and realised her bank account was emptied through 164 online transfers within 12 days," he said, adding that a police report was lodged on Jan 22.

Supt Sundra said the victim who is unemployed claimed the RM2mil was inherited from her family.

He said police investigations discovered that there were several reports against the number 014-741 0722 used by the same scammer and cops are currently tracking him down.

Supt Sundra said the number has been already flagged as Macau scam under "Semak Mule" app, a website to identify scammers.

"The victim should have made checks using the app without responding to the scammer," he said.

Separately, he said a 57-year-old bank officer lodged a police report on Monday (Jan 25) after a fraudster posing as an antique collector from the United States had cheated him out of RM24,500.

Supt Sundra Rajan said the bank officer was offered lucrative amounts in USD to buy out-of-circulation local currencies.

The victim was told that he needed to fork out the amount as "tax" to Bank Negara in order to allow the foreign transaction.

He added that both the cases are being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.