KUANTAN: A pensioner lost more than RM200,000 after falling victim to perpetrators who impersonated a Health Ministry representative and a police officer.
State police chief Comm Datuk Seri Yahaya Othman said the 58-year-old man received a call from someone claiming to be a representative from the ministry’s headquarters in Putrajaya.
The scammer informed him that he had taken an extra supply of medication last year.
The caller then transferred the victim to a fake police officer, “Inspector Hakim”, who told the victim that he was allegedly involved in criminal activities.
The victim was instructed to transfer all his savings into another bank account for audit and investigation purposes, Bernama reported.
He was told to leave his ATM card in a small box on a rubbish bin in Pekan, claiming the police would collect it.
The victim only realised he had been scammed the following day when he visited the bank and found 85 unauthorised transactions, totalling RM229,606.11.
Comm Yahaya urged the public to verify suspicious calls with the police or relevant government agencies to avoid being scammed.
