Victim: They knew how much money was in my account

KUALA LUMPUR: They knew her personal details and were even aware of how much money she had in her bank account.

With this information alone, a Macau scam syndicate managed to dupe a 34-year-old hotel executive of RM2,000 in Penang.

Recalling the incident which occurred about two years ago, Cecilia Robert said she received a call when she was at a restaurant during her lunch break.

“The man who claimed to be a policeman even knew I was in a public place, and told me to go to my car to talk to him privately.

“He was so convincing. He recited my personal details and even knew where my hometown was.

“Then he told me that they had found my MyKad in a vehicle which was involved in a fatal accident, ” she said.

Robert added that the man claimed they found drugs in the car and that she was in a lot of trouble as it was a serious crime.

“My heart was pounding and I knew I had my MyKad on me, so I denied any involvement. The man said he would transfer the call to his superior.

“Another man then came on the line. He was aggressive. He shouted at me and told me the police were going to arrest me unless I cooperated.

“The man told me that I needed to post bail of RM2,000 and to transfer the cash to another account, ” she said, adding that when she told the so-called policeman that she needed to check her bank balance, he told her exactly how much money she had in there, and that there was no use lying to him.

She said the “policeman” told her that once she paid the sum, a car would come to take her to court to finalise the bail process.

“In panic, I transferred the cash and went back to work. When I reached the office, my boss asked me why I was late, so I told him what had happened.

“He was shocked and told me it sounded like I had become a victim of a Macau scam, ” she said.

When she went to lodge a police report, the policeman told her that the sum she had lost was small compared to another case involving losses of over RM100,000.