Woman loses more than RM230,000 to 'Dato Samsul Anwar', 'Tuan Ammar'

IPOH - A 52-year-old teacher from Tanjung Malim claimed to have been deceived by a phone scam and lost more than RM230,000 to the syndicate.

Perak police chief Datuk Seri Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri said the victim, who is a woman, claimed to have received a phone call, purportedly from a courier company, on Aug 30 informing that there were prohibited items in the package.

"When the woman denied the package belonged to her, she was ordered to lodge a police report immediately because her personal information had been used by another individual and then the call was connected to the Melaka police contingent headquarters,'" he said in a statement here today.

He said the woman claimed that she spoke to two persons, one by the name of 'Tuan Ammar' and the other, 'Dato Samsul Anwar', and was informed that a CIMB bank ATM card in her name was found by the police during a raid a criminal named 'Ong Kai Chin' and that an arrest warrant had been issued against her.

"On Sept 1 the victim received a call asking her to transfer RM49,000 from her Tabung Haji account to a given bank account to facilitate the investigation.

"On Sept 4, she was asked to deposit RM27,300 from her ASB into the given money and then to apply for a personal loan of RM150,000 at Bank Islam,” he said, adding that the woman did as told.

Mohd Yusri said the woman received another call on Sept 25 asking her to deposit another RM10,000 for legal fees for the trial of the case, purportedly next month.

He said the woman realised she had been duped and lodged a police report when she went to Bank Islam in Tanjung Malim last Oct 30 and found RM236,300 in her account missing with several transactions made without her knowledge.

The police are investigating the case under Section 420 of the Penal Code. - BERNAMA