GEORGE TOWN: A factory technician lost RM155,401 to a Macau scam here after she was duped into believing that she was involved in a fatal accident that killed a man.
Balik Pulau OCPD Supt A. A. Anbalagan said the 56-year-old woman received a phone call at her workplace in Bayan Lepas Phase 4 Industrial Area at around 10am on Jan 14 from a woman, who claimed to be a police officer in Bukit Mertajam.
“The caller also asked the victim for her identity card number supposedly to check and the victim had also given her house address.
“Her call was then transferred to a man who requested her bank account details including the amount in the technician’s account,“ he said in a statement here yesterday.
He said the man told the woman that her bank account would be frozen and he asked her to open another account by registering the given telephone number and to use her identity card number as the pin number for the account.
The man then asked the woman to transfer all her money in the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Amanah Saham Bumiputera to the new account, saying that if she did not do so, her old account would be frozen.
Anbalagan said the suspect also threatened the victim with legal action over the fatal accident if she did not follow his orders and warned her against telling anyone else including her family members about the incident.
“The victim panicked and transferred all the money into the new account and gave the bank card number to the suspect.
“When the victim went to the bank to check her account yesterday (Jan 20) morning there was only RM115.20 left in her account and she had lost RM155,401,” he said.
The victim, who lives in Jelutong lodged a police report and initial investigation found that the suspect, had cunningly manipulated the victim so that she didn’t even inform a her bank officer son.
Anbalagan said investigations were ongoing to detect the owner of the account which was used to transfer the victim’s money (from the second account) and the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code. — Bernama
