Health Dept retiree scammed of RM60,000 after being accused of hoarding vaccines

MELAKA: A 60-year-old retired civil servant from the Health Department has lost RM60,000 of his pension payout to a scammer who accused him of hoarding Covid-19 vaccines.

Melaka Commercial Crime chief Supt E. Sundra Rajan described the case as bizarre and said his officer was investigating the matter after a police report was lodged at the Melaka Tengah police station on Thursday (June 3).

“On Wednesday (June 2), the victim got a call from a 'policewoman' from Labuan, claiming he was suspected of hoarding vaccines.

“The victim as a former Health Department employee should have been suspicious, as matters relating to vaccines are under the purview of the Federal Government,” he said here on Friday (June 4).

Supt Sundra said the scammer directed the victim, who is from Bukit Baru here, to transfer the amount to a bank account after claiming that legal proceedings had been initiated against him in Labuan.

“We are still investigating why the victim was afraid and transferred the money so quickly," he added.

According to Supt Sundra, 93 online cheating cases have been reported here from January to May with accumulated losses of RM769,986.58.

Supt Sundra said 40 of the cases were through Facebook and 30 via Instagram.

He added that the majority of the victims are between the ages of 21 and 40.