KUCHING, July 27: Three individuals suffered losses amounting to RM77,200 after falling prey to the Macau scam yesterday.
Sarawak Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) chief, Supt Mustafa Kamal Gani Abdullah, said police received reports from Kuching, Sibu and Padawan.
“Similar like other Macau scam cases, the victims were contacted via a telephone call that accused their alleged involvment in debt delinquent, money laundering, fund deviation, drugs and so on,” he said in a statement today.
The suspects would often claimed to be a police officer, bank officer, court staff, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) officer and others, he added.
According to Mustafa Kamal, the first victim was a 20-year-old student in Kuching, where she was duped by a man posing as “Magistrate Johnson Tan” who alleged that she was issued a last notice of paying up her bank credit card arrears of RM16,840.88.
She was then connected to another suspect, posing as a police officer by the name of Inspector Leong , who said that she was involved in money laundering.
After that, she was connected to a female suspect, who disguised herself as a police officer, asking for the victim’s Maybank2u and CIMB Click identification details to check the data on money laundering.
The suspect also requested a TAC number from the victim, he continued.
The victim finally realised she was cheated after notification that RM17,760 was transferred to a third party account.
Mustafa Kamal said the second victim was a woman who works at a hospital in Sibu. Using similar modus operandi, scammers managed to convince her that she has a credit card arrears of RM16,800.88.
“She found out that she had lost RM39,440 to a third party account after receiving a notification from CIMB bank via text message to her telephone number.”
He added that the third victim, a 61-year-old housewife from Padawan, fell victim to scammers who managed to convince her of a corruption court case that she was alleged to have been involved in.
The housewife gave her Mykad details, bank account number and password, as the suspect said he would help her solve the problem. She only realized she had been cheated after seeing RM20,000 from her bank account disappeared, said the state CCID chief.
Meanwhile, the police has recorded 64 Macau scam cases in Sarawak, from Jan 1 to July 26 this year, with a total loss of RM4.09 million.
For the same period last year, the police recorded 84 cases involving a total loss of RM5.32 million.
The scam has been categorised as a telecommunication fraud (Macau scam), whereby the perpetrators are part of a syndicate from Taiwan and China that are using local and international lines from Hong Kong.
Advising members of the public to be cautious at all times, Mustafa Kamal urged the public not be fooled by callers claiming to be government staff, police officers, officers of government agencies or banks institutions.
“If the caller said you owe the bank in credit card, loans and so on, or corruption, hit and run, GST debt, money laundering cases, always check first before you reveal any details. Do not panic or feel afraid when callers intimidate you.
“Never give your account number, bank or credit card number, CVC number on the back of a bank or credit card, pin number, password and online banking TAC number to any person who is not known by telephone,” he said.
He reminded those who received such calls to immediately notify their family members, close friends and proceed to the nearest police station for advice.
Members of the public can contact CCID Infoline at 013-2111222 for assistance.
Alternatively, they can visit the official portal http://ccid.rmp.gov.my/semakmule/ or contact Bank Negara Malaysia at 1-300-88-5465 (LINK); 082-224200 (BNM Kuching) for the latest information and advice on financial fraud. — DayakDaily
