KUALA LUMPUR: A bank officer who suffered losses in a scam was then used by a syndicate to receive RM100,000 from another victim, police said.
Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said the tactic was uncovered when a 37-year-old man reported RM138,000 in losses to a Macau scam.
"An executive from a private company lodged the report on Oct 28, saying he was duped by a scam syndicate," he told a press conference at CCID headquarters here on Tuesday (Nov 26).
Comm Ramli said the victim received a call in mid-October from an individual claiming to be from an e-commerce platform.
"The caller claimed that the victim's phone number had been used to sell prohibited items, and the call was then transferred to an individual claiming to be a police officer.
"The victim was then instructed to transfer RM38,000 to a bank account for an investigation.
"He was also told to hand over RM100,000 to a woman bank officer in person," he added.
Investigations found that the 30-year-old bank officer was also a victim of the phone scam syndicate, Comm Ramli said.
"She has been detained to assist the investigation.
"We discovered she was duped by the syndicate three months ago.
"The syndicate instructed her to report every three hours and to apply for an RM89,000 loan, which would be transferred to another account," he said.
Comm Ramli said the woman was also told to receive RM100,000 from the male victim and transfer it to four different accounts.
"Checks on her mobile phone revealed her involvement as a victim who was used by the syndicate.
"She has been released on police bail but the investigation is ongoing," he said.
Comm Ramli said the case is an example of how phone scam syndicates craftily manipulate victims who do not even realise they are being used.
"In the past, phone scams only involved financial losses but now victims are even being duped into being agents for the syndicates," he added.
