JOHOR BARU: A 51-year-old woman lost RM320,900 after falling victim to a phone scam after believing she was being investigated for money laundering.
Johor Baru South OCPD Asst Comm Azrul Hisham Mohd Shaffei said the victim received a call at about 10am on Jan 8 while she was at her workplace in Taman Perindustrian Tebrau here.
“The caller claimed to be a representative of an insurance company and told the victim that she had an insurance claim amounting to RM68,800.
“The victim was then connected to another individual who claimed to be a police officer. The suspect allegedly told her that she was involved in a money-laundering case and instructed her to make several financial transactions purportedly for investigation purposes and to clear her name,” he said here on Tuesday (Sept 8).
ACP Azrul Hisham said between March and Sept 5, the victim made several transactions totalling RM148,000 to several bank accounts as instructed by the suspect, using her own savings.
“On Monday (Sept 7), the victim also discovered four unauthorised transactions from her bank account involving RM172,900,” he said, adding that the total loss was RM320,900.
ACP Azrul Hisham said the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.
He advised the public not to panic when receiving calls involving criminal or money-laundering allegations, to terminate the call and verify the matter directly with the relevant agency, and never share banking details, TACs or OTPs.
ACP Azrul Hisham said the public can also check accounts through the Semak Mule portal before making transactions and contact the National Scam Response Centre at 997 immediately if they suspect they have been scammed.
