Army pensioner loses RM125,000 to scammers

ALOR GAJAH: An army pensioner lost RM125,000 of his retirement savings after falling prey to scammers posing as a representative of Pos Malaysia and police personnel.

Alor Gajah police chief Supt Arshad Abu said the victim, in his 40s, received a call at about 10.30am on Saturday with the caller claiming to be from the Kuala Lumpur Pos Laju headquarters about an uncollected package.

“The victim was told that he had some banned items like identity cards and credit cards, with the package confiscated by Customs.

“The call was then connected to one ‘Sergeant Suraya’ from the Penang police headquarters and the victim was told to lodge a report.

“He was also told that the case would be handled by ‘Inspector Dani’,” Supt Arshad said in a statement yesterday, Bernama reported.

Supt Arshad said the victim was informed that he was involved in drugs and money laundering.

The call was then transferred to the “highest level” for the victim to appeal, besides being told that a check would be made on his bank account and the matter would be referred to Bank Negara.

“The victim was told to make payments for investigations into the case.

“He made three transactions on Dec 2 and 3 from his retirement savings into two bank accounts belonging to the suspect totalling RM125,000.

“The victim then called the Penang police headquarters to speak to ‘Sergeant Suraya’ and ‘Inspector Dani’ but was told that he had been duped,” he said.

The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for fraud.

Supt Arshad advised people to be vigilant and not be duped by strangers posing as authorities.