IPOH: A former civil servant in Taiping lost about RM216,200 after falling victim to a phone scam.
Taiping OCPD Asst Comm Mohamad Nasir Ismail said the victim, 66, had on Feb 16 received a phone call from an unknown woman who identified herself to be from the court.
ACP Mohamad Nasir said the victim was informed that her name was to have been used for an insurance claim.
"The call was then connected to another person, who claimed to be from the Ampang district police station.
"The victim was then told that her name had been used in money-laundering activities," he said in a statement on Thursday (March 13).
"The victim was also told that if the case is not resolved, legal actions could be taken against her," he added.
ACP Mohamad Nasir said the victim was then told to open a bank account and transfer all her and her husband's money into it, so that their money will not be frozen.
"The victim was told to give the scammers all the banking details and was promised that the money would be returned to her once the matter was resolved.
"Due to panic and fear, she obeyed the instructions," he said.
ACP Mohamad Nasir said the woman had checked her bank account on Wednesday (March 12) and found that most of the money in the account was gone.
"Only RM18.38 was left.
"There had been 18 transactions made into 10 different bank accounts between Feb 25 and March 10," he said, adding that the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.
