SIBU, Feb 29: If it wasn’t for her son, a teacher would not have known that she was the victim of a Macau scam.
She had transferred a total of RM122,502 to 25 different account numbers provided by scammers who cooked up a story threatening that she would be arrested for money laundering and drug trafficking.
Sibu district police chief ACP Stanley Jonathan Ringgit said on August 6, last year, the 56-year-old teacher received a phone call from a man who identified himself as a bank officer from Seremban.
He said the suspect told the victim that she had an outstanding three-month bank loan of RM3,885.
“When the victim denied having any bank loans, the call was connected to another suspect who pretended to be a police inspector. The second suspect claimed that the victim had also been involved in drug trafficking and money laundering cases,” he said in a statement today.
Stanley said the victim panicked and followed the suspects’ instructions in order to clear her name from the case.
“The complainant was required to withdraw all her savings on Aug 6 last year and to deposit them into 25 different accounts totalling RM122,502,” he said.
The money was from her saving accounts, Tabung Haji account, Amanah Saham Nasional account, salary and bank loan.
He said the victim was told not to tell anyone of the matter. She was so scared that she even hid the matter from her family.
Stanley said the victim only came to realise that she was a Macau scam victim when her son, who saw the text messages on her handphone, alerted her.
She lodged a police report on Thursday (Feb 27).
“The mode of operandi of the syndicate was to deceive the victim by disguising themselves as a bank officer and police officer in inducing the victim to make payments .
“The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating,” he added. —DayakDaily
