Engineer conned of RM71,000 by bogus Beijing cop in Macau scam

MELAKA: A 26-year-old engineer from Bukit Beruang lost RM71,000 after getting a call from the "Beijing police" in the latest Macau scam case reported here.

Melaka Commercial Crime chief Supt E. Sundra Rajan said the victim panicked when told that the "crime branch of Beijing police department" was investigating him for sending a parcel containing dozens of debit cards from Malaysia through a courier service.

"The victim was also told that he was suspected by the Beijing authorities of being involved in money laundering," Supt Sundra said here on Tuesday (Feb 16).

Supt Sundra said the victim was later asked to download the Skype communications app on his mobile phone for a so-called Beijing police officer to talk to him.

He said on Jan 27, the victim was told to deposit RM71,000 into two bank accounts as an inducement to prevent punitive action.

Supt Sundra said the victim then deposited the amount over four transactions.

"However, the intimidation continued and the victim was asked to deposit more money," he said.

Supt Sundra said the victim suspected something amiss and lodged a report at Bukit Baru police station on Monday (Feb 15).

"Preliminary investigation showed that the scammer had used the same tactics to cheat three other individuals," he said.

He added that the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.

The term "Macau Scam" was coined because it is believed that it originated from Macau or that the first victims came from there. This has never been confirmed.

Macau scams often start with a phone call from someone pretending to be an officer from a bank, government or law enforcement agency or debt collector.

The scammer will then claim that the potential victim owes money or has an unpaid fine, often with a very short window of less than an hour, to settle the payment or face "dire consequences".

These unsuspecting victims will then be asked to make payments to get off the hook.