JOHOR BAHRU, Oct 31 — A woman fell victim to a scam after being deceived by an individual who impersonated her employer, resulting in the transfer of RM486,000 from the company.

Acting Johor Bahru Utara district police chief Supt Azrol Anuar Nor said the 35-year-old victim was deceived through a short message service (SMS) from the individual who impersonated her company manager in the incident at 10 am.

He said the victim was instructed to transfer the company’s money to the suspect’s account under the pretext of payment of a new contract.

Azrol Anuar said the victim, however, realised she was being scammed after being asked to make an additional transaction of the same amount under a different pretext.

“The victim also failed to contact the real employer through a WhatsApp call before discovering that the employer’s phone number had been hacked,” he said in a statement.

He said the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

The public is advised to always be vigilant against any money transfer instructions and to check through the SemakMule portal or contact the NSRC 997 line if they fall victims to scams. — Bernama

Editor’s note: Supt stands for Superintendent. SMS stands for Short Message Service. NSRC stands for National Scam Response Centre.