KUCHING: A pensioner was fleeced of her life savings amounting to over RM300,000 when she fell victim to a Macau Scam.
Sarawak Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) head Supt Mustafa Kamal Gani Abdullah said the victim, a 65-year-old from Padawan, received a phone call from a person claiming to be from the Kuala Terengganu court on Sept 27.
“She was told that she had an outstanding bank loan of RM50,000 and that her name would be blacklisted if she failed to make payment.
“After telling the caller that she was unable to go to Kuala Terengganu to pursue the matter, the caller transferred her to a man who claimed to be a police officer investigating the case,” he said in a statement yesterday.
According to Mustafa Kamal, the so-called police officer told
the woman she was being investigated for money laundering, and that her account would be frozen.
He then ‘advised’ her to open a new bank account and transfer her savings there to avoid not being able to access her funds.
“The woman was also told to provide the details of the new account to the ‘police officer’, as well as to register his mobile phone number with the new account for online banking purposes,” he added.
He said the pensioner did not realise anything amiss until she checked the account on Monday (Oct 15) and saw there was only RM77.57 left inside.
Realising she had been conned, she lodged a police report later that same day.
Mustafa Kamal also disclosed that police had received a total of eight cases involving Macau Scam and parcel scam on Monday alone, in which three persons – including the pensioner – fell victim to.
The other two victims were a teacher and a teenager – both from Mukah – who lost RM3,800 and RM650 respectively to parcel scams, he said.
He went on to urge the public to exercise caution when receiving unknown calls, especially if the caller claimed to be from the police, bank or court.
“If they (caller) claim to be a police officer, please obtain verification from the nearest police station. If they claim to be from the bank, please directly contact the said bank.
“It is very rare for matters pertaining to the police or banks to be conducted over the phone,” he said.