Teacher loses RM600,000 after falling prey to financial fraud

0

 

File photo for illustration

KUCHING: A teacher lost nearly RM600,000 of her savings after falling prey to a financial fraud here.

State Commercial Crime Investigation Department head Supt Mustafa Kamal Gani Abdullah, who confirmed the matter, said the 51-year-old claimed to have spoken to a Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) officer who cautioned her to be wary of suspicious activity in her bank account.

The victim first received a message about ten days ago, saying that her bank account had an outstanding loan of some RM3,000 that required immediate payment.

Realising that she had never applied for any loan and was worried that her bank account might have been compromised, she called the number that was stated in the message.

A man who answered the phone, claimed to be from BNM Kuala Lumpur head office and identified himself as a bank officer. He then advised her to lodge a report to BNM.

To her dismay, the teacher immediately called BNM on the number which had been given to her by the individual she spoke to earlier.

Following the report with BNM, a presume police officer called and cautioned her that her account was allegedly used by criminals for conducting money laundering.

The victim was then directed to follow further instructions, including transferring all her savings to specified accounts.

The teacher claimed that she felt like she was hypnotised to follow their instructions and only realised something was wrong and lodged police report yesterday.