Lecturer loses over RM500,000 to phone scam

IPOH: A lecturer in Tanjung Malim lost over half a million ringgit after falling victim to a phone scam, says Muallim OCPD Supt Mohd Hasni Mohd Nasir.

He said a 38-year-old woman first received a phone call from the scammer about noon on Aug 3 that there were two parcels for her at a delivery company containing five MyKads, five passports and another five automated teller machine cards.

Supt Mohd Hasni added that the call was then connected to people claiming to be the Perak police contingent and Bukit Aman police.

He then added that another suspect had posed as a policeman and accused her of being involved in a money laundering and human trafficking syndicate.

"The suspect told the victim that an arrest warrant has been issued for her and instructed her to do a money transaction to check whether she was involved or not," he said in a statement on Tuesday (Aug 14).

“Between Aug 3 and 12, the victim made 25 transactions, totaling about RM537,659 to 16 different bank accounts," said Supt Mohd Hasni.

“She only realised that she had been scammed after her husband noticed a change in her behavior and asked her about it," he said, adding that a report was lodged on Saturday (Aug 12).

He added that the husband said the victim kept on fiddling with her phone and had also wanted to borrow his money to make more payments.

Supt Mohd Hasni advised the public to always be careful so that they do not fall for any phone scams.

“We advise the public to check with the police stations or at semkmule.rmp.gov.my or call the police Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) response centre at 03-2610 1559 or at 03-2610 1599 or CCID Infoline at 013-2111 222,” he said.

Supt Mohd Hasni then said that the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.