KUCHING: An oil palm plantation manager in Sibu was made RM29,550 poorer after falling for scammers who pretended to be police officers.
Sarawak Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) chief Supt Mustafa Kamal Gani Abdullah said the 51-year-old woman received a call from a man on Oct 30 who asked her why her husband failed to turn up at a court in Melaka.
“She told the caller that her husband was not involved in any wrongdoing, and that they never received any letter to be present in court.
“The caller then supposedly transferred her to a
Melaka police station where a so-called police officer told her that her husband was involved in drug-peddling, producing counterfeit money, and had an outstanding credit card payment,” said Mustafa Kamal in a statement yesterday.
He said the woman was then convinced to transfer her savings to three separate bank accounts for ‘safekeeping’ by
Bank Negara, and only realised later she had been duped after checks showed no such call came from either the Melaka court or police station.
Separately, the state CCID chief disclosed that two other individuals here also reported being scammed out of RM6,500 and RM1,000.
He said the two reports were received on Nov 20 – one involving a parcel scam and the other, Macau Scam.
On a positive note, he said a female cashier in Miri reported receiving a similar phone call, but did not fall victim.
“The 21-year-old woman was contacted by someone claiming to be from a court in Selangor, and told that there was a case against her involving a sum of RM450 which she owed to a rental car service.
“The woman realised immediately it was a scam and simply ended the call. No losses were recorded,” said Mustafa Kamal.