MIRI: A female tuition teacher was made poorer by more than RM159,000 in a lucky draw scam.
According to sources, the victim had befriended someone, after the ‘so-called female friend’ called her some two weeks ago, saying that the complainant has won a lucky draw.
The lucky draw prize offered a jackpot of RM96,000, she was told.
However, in order to claim the cash prize, the complainant must fly to Hong Kong to claim the winnings.
As the complainant could not do so, her ‘friend’ instructed the complainant to bank-in some cash to enable the winning cash to be sent to Malaysia.
As instructed, the complainant who is in her 20s, made several bank-in transactions to bank accounts of individuals, all in totalling RM159,000.
As to why the teacher banked in a value exceeding the prize money, she was hoodwinked to believe that a portion of it acted as ‘deposit’ due to government tax and was to be returned after the prize money arrived.
Flabbergasted after making the transactions, the complainant made a police report.
Miri deputy police chief Supt Stanley Jonathan Ringgit, when contacted, confirmed receiving the report lodged.