ALOR STAR, Nov 25 — Two government retirees lost a total of RM190,000 after being duped by a Macau scam syndicate in two separate incidents in Kota Setar district recently.
Kota Setar district police chief ACP Mohd Rozi said in the first incident on Nov 13, the 49-year-old victim received a call from a man who introduced himself as a representative of Telekom Malaysia based in Kuala Lumpur.
“The man informed the victim that he had a outstanding bill before the line was transferred to a man claiming to be a police officer from the Kuala Lumpur police contingent headquarters, who told him that he was involved in the movement of illegal funds.
“The victim was then instructed to transfer money to a bank account for bail and investigations payment. The worried victim then made 29 transactions totalling RM180,000 to the account,” he said in a statement.
He said using the same modus operandi, the syndicate, on Nov 18, scammed another retiree, aged 62, who ended up losing 9,000 to them.
Meanwhile, Mohd Rozi said 65 police reports over Macau scam cases were lodged in the district between January and October, involving losses totalling RM1.67 million.
He said police had made several arrests of those who conspired with the scammers by providing them bank account numbers.
Mohd Rozi advised the public not to panic easily when receiving such calls as the police, courts or bank have no authority to order cash transfers to third party accounts. — Bernama
