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KUCHING, June 16: Two accounting clerks from Miri lost a total of RM646,854 in two separate cases, though both fell for the same modus operandi by scammers.
In the first case, the 62-year old clerk lost RM496,962 when she fell victim a scammer who managed to get her to make several bank transfers.
Sarawak police commissioner Datuk Mohd Azman Ahmad Sapri in a statement today said the victim received a phone call on April 17 from an unknown number claiming to be from the Ministry of Health (MOH), informing her that she was involved in spreading inaccurate information regarding Covid-19.
According to Mohd Azman, the victim was later connected to a ‘policeman’ from Sabah who informed her that her bank account was used in crime cases in Kota Kinabalu.
“Following that, the suspect ordered the victim to open up a new bank account under her name and transfer the money from her old bank account into the new one for investigation.
“The victim then opened up a new account in Miri and made a transaction from her old bank and Employee Provident Fund (EPF) accounts into the new account, and handed over banking details including the online password to the suspect,” he said.
He added that the victim realised that she was scammed after checking with the bank that 31 transactions had been made between April 18 and May 5 from her new bank account into an unknown individual’s account.
In the second case, a 59-year old woman from Miri was scammed of RM149,892.
Mohd Azman said on June 15, the victim received a message and a call from an unknown number claiming to be from Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) informing that a suspicious transaction was made using her bank account.
The suspect later instructed the victim to handed over her bank account info such as bank account number, username and password.
“On the same day, the victim received a notification that a transaction amounting to RM49,999 was made through her account and was instructed to open up her online banking application to confirm the transaction.
“The victim only realised that she was being scammed after checking with the bank and found out that a total of 15 transactions were made amounting to RM149,892 from her account into an unknown individual’s account,” he said. — DayakDaily
