University lecturer in JB loses RM1.3mil to scammers

JOHOR BARU: A 41-year-old lecturer has been cheated of RM1.3mil after falling for a scam here.

Johor police chief Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat said the female public university employee lodged a police report on Saturday (Jan 7).

"It started when the victim received a call from a person claiming to be from the Health Ministry and was told that she was involved in faking a Covid-19 report in Sabah,” said Kamarul Zaman.

He then said that the victim was then transferred to another scammer claiming to be a policeman who told the victim that she was involved in a money laundering and drugs case.

Kamarul Zaman then said that the scammer offered to help her and asked her to open a new account, transfer her existing savings to the new account and hand over the access details to him.

"The victim was told that the new account was for safekeeping until the investigation ends,” he said.

"The victim transferred about RM1.3mil to the account between Oct 17 and Nov 25 last year. She only realised she had been duped after noticing a few transactions to unknown accounts," added Kamarul Zaman at a press conference at the Johor Police Headquarters here on Sunday (Jan 8).

Meanwhile, in an unrelated case, Comm Kamarul Zaman added that a 49-year-old man lost RM85,000 after falling for an online investment scam.

"The victim was promised high returns and invested RM800 initially and got RM2,100 in return.

He got greedy and decided to invest RM85,000 but did not receive any response," he said.