KUANTAN: Two retired teachers have lost more than RM2mil after becoming victims of an online fraud syndicate in November.
Pahang police chief Comm Datuk Seri Yahaya Othman said the first case involved a 71-year-old retired male teacher who was enticed by a Facebook stock investment advert promising a 30% return.
The victim initially invested RM10,000. Upon reviewing the app provided by the fraudster, he observed that his account was credited with the promised investment profits.
Encouraged by these apparent gains, he carried out 21 more transactions, transferring funds into six different accounts specified by the fraudster, ultimately suffering losses exceeding RM1.8mil.
Comm Yahaya said the victim only became aware of the scam when he was prompted to deposit an additional RM2.8mil and encountered repeated failures when trying to withdraw the profits shown on the app.
In another case, a 60-year-old retired female teacher lost over RM333,000 to a phone scam conducted by someone claiming to be an insurance agent.
Comm Yahaya explained that the victim was first informed that someone had made an insurance claim in her name. After denying the claim, she received another call from a person introducing himself as "Sergeant Zaidi".
"The victim was accused of being implicated in money laundering through a BSN account amounting to RM2.8mil,” Comm Yahaya said.
However, she denied the accusation as she never had an account with the bank.
Despite her denial, she was instructed to visit a bank to change her registered phone number. Later, she was told to transfer her funds into an account provided by the fraudster, allegedly for investigation by Bank Negara.
Yahaya added that the victim was also told to take out a bank loan and sell her jewellery, with the proceeds deposited into the fraudster's account.
She only realised she had been scammed after being asked to transfer additional funds.
Both victims lodged reports at the Temerloh and Raub district police headquarters, respectively. The cases are being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating. – Bernama
