Lost RM2.9 million of savings over three months to cheats using Macau scam.
A 60-year-old retired primary school teacher received a call purportedly from a bank and a person alleging to be a bank officer said she has a bank loan that still needs to be serviced.
Another man impersonating a senior police officer phoned her and offered various solutions for her problem, according to Pontian police chief Superintendent Mustafa Bakri Salleh.
“Because of fear and panic, she made 21 bank transactions through Internet banking within three months,” he said.
He added that the retiree only came to know she was conned in early March after she noticed that her new account was emptied.
She then lodged a report at the Pontian police station,
“The modus operandi involves someone impersonating a bank officer and a senior police officer to convince the victim or victims to hand over their money.
“The suspects would tell the victims that they have outstanding loans with a financial institution before connecting them with someone from police headquarters.
“The suspect who played the role of the police officer would then tell the victims that they are involved in money laundering activities, drug trafficking or other criminal cases,” said Mustafa at a press conference.
He said the suspects would then offer to help the victims resolve the case by asking them to pay bail money.
“The suspects would then ask the victims to open a bank account and hand over their account details such as PIN numbers and Internet banking passwords that will enable the suspects to make withdrawals from the victims’ accounts and transfer them to third-party accounts,” said Mustafa.
He revealed that between January and March this year, a total of eight Macau Scam cases were reported in the district involving a total loss of RM3.9 million, including the case involving the retired teacher.
He said all eight victims were females, aged 50 and above.
Meanwhile, Pontian police also received four reports of online loan scheme cheating in the same period. Four loan applicants lost RM19,530 in various application fees such as service charges and lawyer fees, and the loans did not materialise.
“We also received 11 cases of cheating involving online purchases with a total loss of RM28,320.”
He said the online purchased goods involved electronics, cosmetics and old currency.
He urged the public to check http://ccid.rmp.gov.my/semakmule before making any online transaction.
All cases will be investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
No arrests have been made so far.