IPOH: Two people, including a marine biologist, lost more than RM1mil to scams in separate incidents in May.
In the first case, the marine biology lost RM500,000 after he fell for a phone scam.
Perak police chief Comm Datuk Noor Hisam Nordin said the 44-year-old man, who works with a private company, lodged a report at the Ipoh district police headquarters on Wednesday.
“Initial investigations revealed that on May 14, 2025, the victim received a phone call from an unknown number, with the caller claiming he was involved in money laundering activities.
“The following day, the victim was contacted by someone claiming to be a police officer from the Pahang police headquarters, who then connected him to another person claiming to be an investigating officer from Bukit Aman,” Comm Noor Hisam said in a statement yesterday, Bernama reported.
He said the victim, believing the syndicate’s claims, proceeded to transfer a total of RM500,000 via online transactions and ATMs to nine different accounts.
Comm Noor Hisam advised the public not to easily believe callers from unknown numbers claiming to be from the police, the Inland Revenue Board, banks, courts, couriers and other agencies accusing them of being involved in crimes or about debts or suspicious packages.
“If asked to transfer money to a so-called security account or to provide banking details or a one-time password (OTP), do not panic.
“Do not share personal information; end the call immediately and verify the matter with the relevant official agency,” he added.
In TERENGGANU, a trader lost RM500,639.50 after falling victim to an online job scam.
Kuala Terengganu police chief ACP Azli Mohd Noor said the 38-year-old victim was offered part-time work with high commissions from a Facebook contact known as “Nabila Puteri” on May 14.
“To earn the commission, the victim was instructed to buy various items through an app downloaded from a link provided by the suspect.
“He initially received some commission for completed tasks and, lured by the early profits, made 38 more transactions to 22 different bank accounts,” ACP Azli said in a statement.
He said the victim used up all his savings from selling fruits, groceries and cattle, and also borrowed from friends and used credit cards to fund the payments.
A police report was lodged on Wednesday and the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
