KUCHING, Nov 8: An elderly man in his late 70s from Sibu fell victim to a scam in which he was conned out of RM120,000 by three unknown individuals who falsely claimed he had won a lottery prize of RM300,000.
According to Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Mohd Azman Ahmad Sapri, the incident took place earlier this month when the victim was approached by two women and a man near a hotel in Kanowit, who convinced the victim that he held a winning lottery ticket worth RM300,000.
“One of the female fraudsters then requested the victim’s bank account number for the purpose of transferring the prize money.
“The victim was promised RM200,000, with the suspects demanding their share of RM120,000 in advance which the victim agreed to the offer,” he disclosed in a statement today.
Thereafter, the suspects escorted the victim in a vehicle towards Sibu town, purportedly for the necessary procedures to claim the lottery prize.
In town, the male suspect entered a number forecasting premises to purportedly verify the winning ticket.
Later, the victim withdrew RM119,000 from his Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd (ASNB) and savings accounts in a local bank and handed over RM120,000 in cash to the female suspect before being returned to Kanowit town.
It was only a few days later, upon checking his bank account, that the victim realised he had been deceived, as the promised RM300,000 had not been credited. The victim filed a police report on yesterday (Nov 7) for further investigation.
Mohd Azman revealed that the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating and dishonestly inducing a person to deliver property, which carries a penalty of up to 10 years’ imprisonment, mandatory whipping, and fines upon conviction.
The police advised the public to be cautious and skeptical of alluring offers from unfamiliar individuals.
“Don’t be greedy and become irrational or distorted when being offered a huge sum of unverified money.
“The public should realise that nothing comes for free without hard effort. Discuss and consult trusted people like family members, friends or bank officers when in doubt before making any financial transactions. Do be easily fooled to hand over money to unknown people,” he reminded. — DayakDaily
