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KUCHING, Sept 13: A civil servant in her 40s lost a total of RM600,000 to a phone scam.
According to a statement by Sarawak Police Commissioner Datu Mohd Azman Ahmad Sapri, the woman who lodged a report at Sibu District Police station, said she received a call from a stranger impersonating a Poslaju officer in Perak in August.
The scammer accused the victim of sending a package containing several identity cards which the victim denied.
The call was later supposedly passed to a “Tuan Zakim” of Perak Police Station, who reprimanded the victim for being uncooperative before transferring the call to “Head of Operation ASP Mohtar” who accused the victim of money laundering.
“Panicked and worried, the victim followed the instruction of the scammers. She was also instructed not to inform anyone about the case,” said Mohd Azman.
At the beginning of August, the victim received instruction to make two money transfers amounting to RM20,000 to two different accounts supposedly for auditing purposes at Bank Negara.
Throughout the month, the victim was instructed to borrow money from several financial institutions before transferring the loan amount, fixed deposits and a National Education Savings Scheme account totalling RM580,000 to the scammers in five different accounts.
The victim only realised that it was a phone scam after failure to contact the scammers. — DayakDaily
