Another victim falls prey to phone scam in Perak, loses RM113,850

IPOH - Another victim fell prey to a ‘phone scam’ syndicate and lost RM113,650, after receiving suspicious phone calls from three individuals in early June.

Perak police chief Datuk Seri Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri said the woman a 67-year-old retired civil servant, who is also a single parent, lodged a report on the matter yesterday.

"The first call was purportedly from a transport company, saying there was a package with the victim’s identity card sent to Perlis.

"Then she spoke to a second individual, claiming to be a police officer, who informed her that she was a suspect in a money laundering case.

"Finally, the call was transferred to a so-called high-ranking officer with a ‘Dato’ title,” he said in a statement today.

Mohd Yusri said the victim was coerced to cooperate under threat of arrest and that her bank accounts would be frozen and she ended up disclosing all her bank accounts’ details.

"The suspects ordered her to open a Bank Islam account and deposit all her money into it.

"The victim was in fear of being arrested. She transferred all her savings, amounting to RM101,850 into the Bank Islam account and deposited another RM10,900 into a CIMB bank account which was provided by the suspects,” he said.

The woman only realised she had been cheated after checking the Bank Islam account in Taiping yesterday, when she discovered eight transfers for the sum of RM102,950 to three unknown bank accounts on Wednesday.

"The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code,” he said.

Last Saturday, a 38-year-old woman, working as a supervisor in Teluk Intan lost RM217,000 to a syndicate using the same modus operandi. - Bernama