Managing director loses RM520,000 to Macau scammers posing as cops

JOHOR BARU: A 46-year-old managing director lost RM520,000 after falling for a Macau scam from a person claiming to be a member of the police.

Johor Police chief Comm M. Kumar said the victim lodged a report on Sunday (June 2) after realising he was duped.

He said that the victim had received a call from an unknown individual in early May who had introduced himself as a police officer from the northern part of Malaysia.

“The scammer then claimed to have found the victim’s ATM card during one of their raids and claimed that the victim was involved in money laundering.

“The call was then transferred to another scammer who claimed to be a police inspector named Lee Kha Seng; this one tried to ‘offer help’ to the victim so that his bank account would not be frozen,” he said in a statement here on Monday (June 3).

Comm Kumar added that the victim was requested to transfer his money to another bank account to help with the investigation.

He added that the victim believed the call was legitimate as his name and IC number were quoted correctly by the scammers.

“He had also been given a letter via WhatsApp that had a court letterhead stating that all of the victims assets would be confiscated," said Comm Kumar.

“The victim then agreed to make the financial transfer and transferred RM520,000 to the scammers,” he added.

However, the victim was still pressed for more money even though he had given such a huge sum; this was when he realised he had been cheated,” he added.

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

Comm Kumar reminded the public that those who have become scam victims should call the National Scam Response Centre at 997 to stop any financial transfers from the suspect's bank account.

“They could also follow the Commercial Crime Investigation Department's (CCID) social media account so that they can be aware of the tactics used by scammers to dupe their victims.

“We would also like to urge the public to use the ‘Semak Mule’ website and download the Whoscall application to reduce the risk of being scammed,” he added.