Two Sibu housewives duped of RM20,000 in phone scam

SIBU: Two housewives here have been duped of a total of RM20,600 by an individual impersonating a police officer in a phone scam.

Sibu OCPD Asst Comm Zulkipli Suhaili said that its commercial crime investigation division received two reports lodged by two victims aged 43 and 51 respectively on Wednesday (May 17),

"They said they received a call from a person claiming to be a policeman who told them that they were involved in money laundering and drug cases.

"The suspect asked them to make payments into a bank account to resolve the case," he said.

The scared victims then complied with the suspect's instructions.

On May 16 and 17, both victims made three payments each totalling RM20,600 to the account provided by the suspect.

The duo eventually realised that they had been tricked and made police reports.

"The police have opened two investigation papers under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating," he said.

Zulkipli advised the public not to panic when receiving phone calls from people claiming to be from any government department or financial institution.

He said the people can call the National Scam Response Center (NSRC) at 997 or follow the @CyberCrimeAlertRMP and @JSJKPDRM social media pages if in doubt.

They can also verify bank accounts and suspicious phone numbers through at http://ccid.rmp.gov.my/semakmule, he said.