IPOH: A 55-year-old housewife in Taiping lost RM181,650 after falling victim to a parcel scam.She received a call last Wednesday from someone claiming to be from a courier company, informing her about a package that she had supposedly sent to Kuantan, said Perak police chief Comm Datuk Seri Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri.
The caller told the woman that the parcel contained three identification cards, three passports, and two ATM cards, he said.
“She told the caller that she did not post such items. Shortly after that, she received another call from the so-called courier company.”
“The call was then transferred to the ‘Pahang police contingent headquarters’, with the person on the line claiming that a police report had been lodged,” he said.
He said the victim was told to check her WhatsApp.
“She then received a video call, in which the person introduced himself as Inspector Chong, who said he needed to take her statement regarding the police report.
“He told the victim that she was involved in money laundering with a bank manager in Taiping, where she had supposedly ‘sold’ her bank account for RM150,000 to the manager to carry out illegal activities,” he said in a statement.
“He then told her if she wanted to solve the matter, she needed to settle it with a ‘Datuk Kong’, supposedly from the police headquarters, on that very day.”Later, the woman received a WhatsApp message from “Datuk Kong”.
“The victim was told to put all her savings into several accounts for investigation and that if she failed to do so, her bank accounts would be frozen.
“In her state of panic, she made 20 transactions to four different bank accounts amounting to RM181,650,” he said.
He said the woman later realised that she has been cheated and lodged a police report on Saturday.
