SEREMBAN: A retired teacher lost RM224,840 in an ‘African scam’ after she was tricked by an ‘old friend’ who wanted to borrow money to cover the cost of her son’s treatment two months ago.
Negeri Sembilan Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) chief Supt Aibee Ab Ghani said the 63-year-old woman received several phone calls from an individual claiming to be old friend, now living in Liverpool, England, between Sept 7 and 24.
He said the victim then agreed to help and transferred money on Sept 7 into a local bank account belonging to the ‘child’ of the suspect for surgical expenses at Miri Hospital, Sarawak.
“On the same day, the ‘old friend’ of the victim repaid about 10,000 British Pounds with a deposit slip as ‘proof’ to the victim and on Sept 14, the victim received a message via WhatsApp application from a man who identified himself as a Bank Negara officer by the name of Fadilah Husaini.
“The man told the victim that her old friend had over-paid 100,000 British Pounds instead of 10,000 pounds and informed that there was an error in the receipt system.
“The man then asked the victim to pay taxes to refund her money and that her case has been referred to the British High Commissioner. She was then asked to pay a penalty, and make further payments for insurance and security services,” he said in a statement here today.
Following this, the victim deposited a total amount of RM224,840 into several bank accounts as instructed.
The retired teacher later sensed something amiss and lodged a police report yesterday, he said, adding the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.
He also urged the public not to panic when receiving calls from unknown individuals and to contact the relevant agencies for further confirmation. — Bernama
