57-year-old woman loses RM381,950 in phone scam

IPOH - A 57-year-old woman lost RM381,950 to a phone scam in the state, according to Perak police chief Datuk Seri Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri.

He said the woman, who is a project manager with a private company in Taiping, lodged a police report yesterday after realising that she had been duped.

According to him, the victim received a call informing her there was a parcel purportedly from her which contained an identity card (IC), passport, ATM card as well as 100 pieces of counterfeit money addressed to an unknown individual in Sarawak on Aug 11.

"The suspect, who claimed to be a police inspector, also told her that she was also wanted on suspicion of selling her personal bank accounts for RM20,000 to an unknown person.

"After that the victim's call was connected to a ‘Datuk’ who asked her to reveal all her banking details to facilitate investigation, which the woman did. Out of fear, the woman disclosed all information to her eight bank accounts including her credit card information," he said in a statement today.

Mohd Yusri said the woman also claimed that her call was also transferred to another officer from the Bukit Aman Anti-Money Laundering Division.

"She was also asked to provide her salary slips for four months, Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) e-filing, her land titles and car grants, as well as photographs of her jewellery to facilitate investigation.

"The victim was then asked to apply for a personal loan of RM100, 000 and then instructed to transfer the amount into the suspect's Bank Islam (RM50,000) and HSBC (RM50,000) accounts," he said.

He said the victim later realised she had been duped after a check found that there were 18 money transfers totalling RM381,950 from her accounts to 11 unknown accounts from Aug 18 to Sept 6.

"The woman said she did not check her bank transactions then on the believe that the ‘police’ were handling the case and she had no access to the accounts,” he said, adding that the police had opened an investigation paper under Section 420 of the Penal Code. - BERNAMA