KUANTAN: A female lecturer lost RM132,000 in one day after she was cheated by a Macau Scam syndicate who informed her in a phone call, that she was involved in drug-related activities.
According to Pahang Commercial Crime Investigation Department head Supt Mohd Wazir Mohd Yusof, the 60-year-old victim said she transferred the money to four different accounts yesterday after she was told to do so by an ‘inspector’ from Malacca.
“According to the victim, a female officer from the Malacca magistrate’s court informed her that she had outstanding credit card payments. Although she denied the allegations, the victim was told to speak to a male suspect who introduced himself as Inspector Mohd Yusuf.
“The suspect said the victim was involved in drug-related activities and money laundering, and she had to transfer money in order for checks to be carried out,” he told reporters here today.
Mohd Wazir said after the victim obeyed the suspect’s instructions in the afternoon, she could no longer contact the ‘police officer’ and realised she had been duped.
The victim lodged a report with the Kuantan District Police Station last night and investigations are being conducted under Section 420 of the Penal Code which provides for a prison sentence of up to 10 years and caning, with the possibility of a fine, if found guilty.
In a separate case, a trader lost RM31,090 after she tried to borrow from a ‘company’ which advertised loans on social media to people who have been blacklisted.
Mohd Wazir said the victim, 34, said several days after she provided her telephone number on the social media site on April 26 as she wanted to borrow RM100,000, a representative of the ‘company’ contacted her.
“According to the victim, she was asked to pay processing fees, the cost of opening a new account, stamp cancellation and various other purposes, before she could get the loan,” he said.
Up till yesterday, the victim performed the money transfers five times into three accounts provided by the suspect but did not get the loan she was promised. — Bernama
